SPOTTED REDSHANK 347 



note as " a peculiar twitter, quite unlike the bold whistle 

 of the common species" ('Irish Naturalist,' 1894, p. 221). 

 The note may be syllabled tu-whee-te, tu-whee-te, often 

 repeated. A two- syllabled call-note is also uttered. 



Food. This consists of insects (including beetles, w r hich 

 are largely consumed), shell-fish, and worms. 



Nest. According to the observations of Wolley, the 

 Spotted Bed shank, when nesting, resorts to rather dry 

 situations in well-timbered districts, sometimes hilly and 

 at a considerable distance from water. The nest is a 

 shallow depression in dark, rough soil, " often where the 

 forest has been burned" (Saunders). The eggs, four in 

 number, vary from pale brown to pale green in ground- 

 colour, blotched and spotted with brown and black. 

 Incubation begins about the end of May. 



Geographical distribution. - - The Spotted Redshank 

 breeds in Arctic and Northern Europe and Asia, journey- 

 ing in autumn and winter over Europe to South Africa, 

 while its eastern migration extends to Southern Asia and 

 Japan. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. General plumage, 

 black, spotted with white ; lower back and upper tail- 

 coverts, white, transversely barred with black ; tail-feathers, 

 barred white and brownish ; primaries, blackish. 



Adult female nuptial. Resembles the male nuptial 

 plumage, sometimes the breast and abdomen are brownish- 

 black, and more thickly spotted with white than in the 

 male ; the chin is often white (Saunders). 



Adult winter, male and female. Top of head, hind- 

 neck, back, scapulars, and wings, ash-grey, with white 

 mottlings ; tail-feathers, dusky, the central ones without 

 black and white barring; (cf. tail-feathers of Common Red- 

 shank) ; secondaries, thickly barred with white and dusky 

 greyish-brown ; front and sides of neck, greyish ; breast and 

 abdomen, greyish-white ; axillaries, white. 



Immature, male and female. Back, scapulars, and 

 wings, brownish-grey, spotted with white ; throat, breast, 

 and abdomen, washed with ash-grey on a white ground ; 

 the immature plumage bears a general resemblance to the 

 winter adult plumage. 



BEAK. Blackish, the base of the lower segment being 

 reddish. 



