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THE GREEN SANDPIPER. 



(Totanus ochropus.) 



THE flight of the Green Sandpiper is very rapid; the 

 note is a shrill tui-tui-tui. The food of the bird consists 

 of insects chiefly, with small red worms and fresh water 

 snails. It is not good to eat, having a disagreeable 

 musty odour. 



The Green Sandpiper is not uncommon in many parts 

 of England and Wales, on the spring as well as on the 

 autumnal migration. On the east side of Scotland it is 

 fairly frequent, but in the north it is very rare. To 

 Ireland it pays unfrequent visits, even in autumn. "The 

 Green Sandpiper is a restless bird, for ever moving on," 

 says "A Son of the Marshes." "Something impels 

 him to constant haste. . . . The first time I met him, 

 unexpectedly, was on a breezy upland common, with 

 just enough wind blowing to carry the white clouds 

 along without blowing them to pieces, a few sheep were 

 wandering about, their bells tinkling. On one side of 

 the common are a number of old blackthorns, with wisps 

 of wool sticking on their rough stems, then comes the 

 long high-road, and close to the road is a small pond, 

 gravel-edged, where the cattle that graze on the common 

 come to drink. A shrill whistle, and in front of us is 

 a beautiful bird. He runs a short distance, his feet just 

 in the water, picks at something, whistles, and is off, 

 over some old beech-trees. I have examined him dead, 

 and have seen him and his mate exquisitely set up by 

 a naturalist and bird-stuffer, but you must see him alive 

 to form any idea of the dashing vitality of the bird 

 itself." 



