294 THE REDSHANK 



Its plumage also has the hemp-seed speckling, but is 

 more thickly speckled and barred. Beak long; legs 

 long, of a bright orange-red. It is perceptibly webbed 

 between the toes. Tail white, with dark bars. The dark 

 wings are adorned with a white patch, the sides with 

 pointed spots like drops. Its nest is found in wet marsh, 

 or moorland, between the weeds and creeping stems, in 

 little dips, and consists simply of straw 7 litter. It lays 

 four pear-shaped eggs, which are arranged in the nest, 

 with the points towards one another. The ground 

 colour is clay-yellow, and they are speckled with greyish 

 and dark-brown spots and flecks. 



