298 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



and whistling all the while to its own shadow, when there is light 

 enough in the sky overhead to make it visible. 



In the summer of 1867, when walking one day in company with 

 Mr Sinclair, along the public road skirting the shore near Inverkip 

 in Eenfrewshire, I was arrested by the movements of a Sandpiper 

 as it rose from the beach and flew high into the air above the 

 adjoining wood, where it made several wide circles, uttering during 

 its flight a constant outcry varied by an occasional long-drawn 

 note. It was watched for some minutes by Mr Sinclair and myself, 

 until it disappeared on the other side of the wood. On the 

 following day we again saw the bird at the same place, but on this 

 occasion it rose from the wood, and not from the beach. It then 

 repeated its flight as before, above the trees, and finally perched 

 on one of the top branches of a Scotch fir about twenty feet from 

 the ground. The wood was, unfortunately, strictly protected, and 

 we were consequently obliged to continue our observations from 

 the road. We both distinctly saw the bird descend to a lower 

 perch, and run along the horizontal branch to its extremity, where 

 it disappeared among the green tufts. This bird appeared to be 

 somewhat larger than the Common Sandpiper, and its note was 

 louder differences which certainly suggest the possibility of its 

 having been a green sandpiper. We both regarded our exclusion 

 from the wood as a great drawback, as a close scrutiny might have 

 at least enabled us to find out whether there was an old nest in 

 the tree which the sandpiper had appropriated. There have been 

 no sandpipers in the wood since that year, but measures have now 

 been taken to institute an effective search should the perching 

 bird again make its appearance. 



In several instances I have taken the nest of this Sandpiper in 

 grass fields near Loch Lomond, where several pairs of redshanks 

 were also found breeding. The nests were always placed beside a 

 tuft of growing plants, and frequently had a most picturesque 

 appearance when the plants were in flower. 



