156 



deposit of alluvial matter carried down to the sea by rivers, 

 and about which we constantly see troops of the restless and 

 active redshank. Attractive from the bright red colour of the 

 legs, from which it derives its name, it is easily distinguished 

 on the shore or in flight. 



During summer it is of more rarity, only a few isolated in- 

 dividuals out of the large flocks observed on the shore in winter, 

 remaining to breed. In the vicinity of the Dublin coast two 

 instances of its riidification have occurred to us, one on the 

 sandbanks near Rush, and the other on the Wicklow coast 

 near Greystones. In one nest three eggs were obtained, and 

 the other was tenanted by the same number of young ; of 

 which the male, in the beautiful spotted breeding plumage, 

 was unfortunately shot. 



On the small islands situated before Skerries we have ob- 

 served flocks of the redshank crowding every little projecting 

 rock, patiently awaiting the falling tide to leave the main- 

 shore line exposed. Vigilant and suspicious when feeding, 

 the least alarm is sufficient to cause the entire flock to take 

 wing, each bird uttering at the same time its loud and pierc- 

 ing alarm -cry. 



Habitat Europe. 



SPECIES 146 THE GREENSHANK. 



Totanus glottis. Jard. 



Chevalier aboyeur. Temm. 



Greenlegged Horseman. 



NOT occurring in any proportion like the redshank, we might 

 characterize the greenshank as a species occasionally obtained 

 upon our eastern coast. Although one of those birds not 

 remarkable for bright or showy plumage, yet we can never 

 fail admiring the chaste and beautiful harmony of its sub- 

 dued colour. Thus it has appeared to us as one of our most 

 elegant shore-birds from the unsullied and spotless white of 

 the under parts, contrasting so elegantly with the dark and 

 delicately marked plumage of the back. 



Frequenting similar situations with the redshank, it is only 

 remarked during winter and autumn in pairs, or occasionally 

 in small flocks, averaging from five to ten individuals. 



Of great wariness, we have observed individuals feeding 

 on the Clontarf strand taking flight and screaming vocife- 

 rously their alarm-cry at the sound of a horn or the whistle of 

 a railway train, a sound to which the knots, dunlins, and red- 

 shanks, feeding in the vicinity, never paid at any time the 



