Common Sandpiper. 421 



under the name of f Summer Snipe.' The specific name, hypo- 

 leucos, 'white underneath,' though not distinctive, tells accurately 

 of the pure unspotted white of the plumage on the under surface 

 of the body. I found this species most abundant in Egypt during 

 the winter, and met with it at every turn of the river ; and not 

 less common in Norway during the summer, where it established 

 itself in its breeding quarters on every river and stream, and 

 where I have taken the young just out of the shell, and marvelled 

 at its size in comparison with its parents. But the Drill Sndppa, 

 as it is there called, is very abundant all over Scandinavia. By 

 the Lapps it is called Skillili, and they have a saying as to the 

 disproportionate size of the egg to the bird which may be thus 



rendered : 



' Skillili, Skillili ! I carry, I carry 

 An egg large as that of a Ripa, 

 So that my tail cocks in the air.' 



In like manner as the Dunlin is commonly said in Iceland to 

 guard and tend the Golden Plover, so on the islands of the Baltic 

 Sea the Common Sandpiper is reported to act the part of a 

 servant or guardian towards the Redshank. Now, the Redshank 

 (T. calidris) is known to the fishermen as Tolk, or ' Interpreter,' 

 because of its shrill cry, whereby it warns other birds of the 

 coming of the fowler, for which reason the Common Sandpiper 

 is there often designated TolJca-piga, or ' Handmaid to the 

 Interpreter.' In France it is Chevalier guignette ; in Germany, 

 Trillender Strandlaufer ; and in Italy, Piovanello. 



156. GREENSHANK (Totanus glottis). 



This is a rare bird in Wiltshire. The Rev. A. P. Morres had 

 the good fortune in 1865 to see three together on two con- 

 secutive days in some water-meadows near Salisbury, where 

 they had been noticed to have taken up their quarters, and to 

 have occupied the same spot for some four or five days pre- 

 viously. They were very wild, and would not admit of too near 

 approach. It is not usual to see three in company, for when 

 found in this country it is almost always a single bird that is 



