592 SCOLOPACIDJS. 



in the spring, however, they retire to fens and marshes, 

 near pools or lakes, and to the banks of rivers, where during 

 the breeding season they are only seen singly or in pairs. 

 They feed on aquatic insects, and on marine or other worms, 

 which they probe for with their beaks in soft mud. Mr. 

 Thompson says they are common in Ireland, and a writer 

 in the first volume of the Naturalist, mentions " that they 

 are very numerous in Dublin Bay, where it is stated these 

 birds may sometimes be seen in very large flocks, frequent- 

 ly amounting to one hundred and fifty or two hundred ; 

 and the larger the flock, the more shy and difficult were 

 the birds of approach ; they are always on the look out, 

 and take wing on the least alarm or any appearance of 

 danger ; when running along the sands, the Redshank has 

 the same kind of dipping motion for which some of the 

 smaller Sandpipers are so remarkable. I was very much 

 struck with the curious manner in which they dart their 

 bills into the sand nearly its whole length, by jumping up, 

 and thus giving it a sort of impetus, if I may use the word, 

 by the weight of their bodies pressing it downwards." 



Redshanks are not uncommon in Cornwall, Devonshire, 

 and Dorsetshire. They still frequent Romney Marsh as 

 they did in the days of Montagu, for the purpose of breed- 

 ing. Mr. Jesse sent me a specimen killed at Hampton in 

 autumn. The authors of the catalogue of the Norfolk and 

 Suffolk birds say, u the Redshank is found in considerable 

 numbers in many of the marshes both of Norfolk and Suffolk 

 during the breeding season. It is indeed more common than 

 any other kind of wader. To sportsmen it is very trouble- 

 some, flying around them and uttering an incessant shrill 

 whistle, which alarms all the other birds near the spot." 



The Redshank is found, as might be expected, in Lin- 

 colnshire. Mr. Selby says it is common in Durham and 



