66 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



its triple note, " too too too," uttered more slowly than that of the Green- 

 shank. More silent, and less fidgety than its congener, it is not often to 

 be observed upon the open shore. It may, indeed, once in a way be found 

 in a tidal drain amidst the saltings, but the majority fly beyond the sea- 

 wall to the fresh-water marsh, and on its open expanse they are, especially 

 when associating with Greenshanks, most difficult birds to approach. It was 

 here, too, that I had the good fortune to secure a Pectoral Sandpiper 

 (Tringa maculata). It rose, with the dash of a Snipe, from a solitary tussock 

 on the mere, and though mingling at once with a flock of Dunlin which 

 happened to be passing, it was distinguishable even then by its darker 

 colours and longer wings. Thrice it took part in their aerial evolutions, 

 and then it left them and flew round and round in narrowing circles until 

 it pitched again upon the original spot. I failed to get it at the time, but 

 when I went straight to the same tussock on the following morning, it rose 

 to an easy shot, uttering as it did so a curious double note "chup, chup." 

 Mr. D. G. Elliot, in his ' North American Shore Birds,' gives a most 

 interesting account of the behaviour of this bird at its breeding haunts in 

 the Yukon Valley. After the manner of the Grouse tribe, it can in the 

 spring extend its throat to an enormous size, and thus adorned it makes 

 play for the edification of its mate. 



Avocets have been seen on the same mere, and also Wood Sandpipers 

 and Temmincks, and though these localities are soon shot out, and often 

 hold nothing at all, yet if there are any of the very rare Waders about 

 it is generally here that they are to be met with. 



