Limicolce 215 



south as Perthshire and Argyllshire, if not occasionally 

 in the Border country, does so abroad in Scandinavia, 

 north Russia, and Siberia. The olive-green legs distin- 

 guish it at once from the Redshank, while it is a larger 

 bird and decidedly greyer above. The general habits 

 of the two species are identical, but the Greenshank is 

 quieter and has a note sufficiently different to be appre- 

 ciable by those accustomed to meet with both waders. 

 Moreover it does not frequent sea- weed covered rocks, 

 but muddy or sandy shores and salt-marsh creeks. 

 Many individuals are met with inland on passage, 

 though comparatively few remain to breed ; the slight 

 nest of herbage or dead leaves is built on the side of 

 some forest-pool or on comparatively dry spots near a 

 loch or other piece of water. The four eggs are larger 

 and lighter than those of the Redshank with more 

 purplish markings. 



The Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) arrives on 

 our coasts in August, between which month and the 

 following June larger or smaller flocks frequent our 

 sandy or muddy shores and estuaries. The majority 

 pass southward for the winter, but many individuals 

 remain with us ; while in different localities they differ 

 much in abundance. The upper parts are brown, with 

 black markings on the back and much white on the rump 

 and tail, the rest of the plumage being of a fine brownish 

 red with blackish streaks on the head ; towards winter 

 this fine ruddy colour gives way to white below, and 

 the whole of the upper parts are brown and grey, except 

 the tail-feathers, which are always barred and give its 

 name to the bird. This is our common Godwit, though 

 it does not breed in Britain, but only from Lapland and 

 northern Russia to the Taimyr Peninsula in Asia, east 



