THE SPOTTED REDSHANK. 201 



alighted on the beach at a short distance, which was scarcely done, 

 until it became my victim. Immediately on lifting the bird, 

 though I had never seen one before, I knew it to be the spotted 

 redshank from recollection of Bewick's beautiful figure of that 

 species. It was admirably killed for being stuffed, not a speck 

 of blood being on any part of its plumage, or a wound anywhere 

 visible. To prevent the possibility of its plumage being even 

 ruffled from contact with my pocket, the bird was carried in my 

 hand, and when I reached home, was most carefully (as I 

 believed) laid aside, preparatory to my absence for a few hours. 

 Alas ! however, on my return, the beauteous prize was missing, 

 but was eventually discovered ; — served up at the dinner-table, in 

 company with a curlew and other vulgar denizens of the shore. 

 My boyish mortification may easily be imagined, as my good for- 

 tune in having obtained so fine a specimen of a bird never before 

 known to visit the Irish coast had been the all-engrossing thought 

 of the day. 



x\n observant shore-shooter, who killed 108 redshanks at 

 a shot from his swivel-gun, in Belfast Bay, early in Sept. 1846, 

 remarked one of them to be not only different from all the rest, 

 but to be of a species which he had never before seen. There 

 can be little doubt, from his description, that it was a spotted red- 

 shank. Wm. Crawford, Esq., of Lakelands, near Cork, who 

 shoots much on the water, is certain of having occasionally 

 met with this bird, but has not preserved a specimen.* 



There can be no doubt of its occurrence more frequently than 

 we are aware of, though not coming under the eye of the naturalist. 

 The species having apparently visited Cornwall as frequently as any 

 other part of England, we should expect to meet with it more 

 particularly in the south of Ireland. It is only a rare or occa- 

 sional visitant to that country, and chiefly to the southern and 

 eastern counties. Its occurrence in Scotland was unknown to 

 Mr. Macgillivray ; but Sir Wm. Jardine has seen two individuals 

 which were shot at the same time in the Erith of Eorth.t On the 



* Dr. J. 11. Harvey, 1848. f rit. Birds, iii. 201. 



