194 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



more plentiful than it now is, it was chiefly on the low 

 mud flats and marshes bordering the sea that it was 

 to be found during its summer visits, and on the latter 

 that it deposited its eggs. The bird I have mentioned 

 may have been bred in the Lincolnshire marshes. 



Of still greater rarity is the Black -winged Stilt (Hi- 

 mantopus melanopterus) , and I am pleased to be able 

 to note its appearance, though only on one occasion. 

 This was on the 30th of January, 1848, when one was 

 seen standing in a ditch of shallow water in an ash- 

 holt at Perlethorpe, by Mr. Mansell and his father. It 

 was apparently feeding when they caught sight of it, 

 and on being disturbed rose with a shrill "squeal," 

 flying low in the direction of the river that bounds the 

 ash holt. Mr. M. would have shot it had not his father 

 stood in the way, so it continued its course unharmed. 

 Its extraordinary long legs gave it a most singular 

 appearance when standing in the water, and still more 

 so during flight, for they were then carried stretched 

 out behind, and the clear contrast afforded by its black 

 and white plumage and red legs was very striking. It 

 was doubtless a visitor from the Continent, for this 

 species has, I believe, been seldom seen of late years in 

 this country. 



The Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanura) and 

 the Bar-tailed Godwit (L. rufa) are occasionally met 

 with; more frequently the former, which is not un- 

 common on the banks of the Trent in the neighbour- 

 hood of Nottingham ; but both are but stragglers. 



The Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is generally con- 

 sidered as a winter visitor, retiring in the spring to 

 Northern Europe for the purpose of rearing its young, 

 though many occasional instances of its breeding in 



