348 THE BIRDS OF Di:vox. 



account of its trick of constantly bowing its head, and of standing 

 motionless in the water when its hunger has heeu satisfied (' Birds of 

 >'orth-West,' p. 500).] 



Redshank. Totanus calidris {Lmw.). 



[PiU-cock: X.D.'\ 



A passing visitor, principally in autumn, when flocks sometimes 

 frecjuent our estuaries for a few weeks in August and September. Dr. 

 E. Moore records specimens shot on Kenton (Dawlish) Warren in June 

 lb28 (Trans. Plym. Inst. 18;J0). Mr. Gatcombe mentions seeing one 

 flying up the Tamar on July 12th, IbTO (Zool. 1870, p. 5io0) ; and Mr. 

 E. Elliot shot one on the 27th of that month in 1889 on the Kingsbridge 

 estuary. Single birds occasionally remain throughout the winter on the 

 Exe, and Mr. Gatcombe considered the lledshank had become a regular 

 winter resident on the Plymouth estuaries (Zool. 1^75, p. 4373 ; 1877, 

 p. 278 ; 1>80, p. 247 ; 1883, p. 1G6 ; 1884, p. 55). Some occur on the 

 Kingsbridge estuary nearly every autumn (11. P. N.), where it was 

 very numerous in September 1879 and 1890 (E. A. S. E.). The Red- 

 shank is by no means common on the Exe estuary. It used to be one of 

 the most numerous of our shore birds on the Xorth Devon estuaries, but 

 has now become comparatively rare. We can remember when every 

 '• pill,'' the local name given to a little stream which had cut for itself a 

 deep passage in the mud to join the tideway, possessed a pair or more of 

 " Pill-cocks," which in such places could be easily stalked and shot. 

 Nor were little flocks of ten or a dozen uncommon on the sands and 

 oozes in the autumn. As we never went at any time of the year to 

 the neighbourhood frequented by the Redshanks without either 

 seeing one or two, or hearing their unmistakable whistle as they flew 

 overhead, we have little doubt that in those days a pair or two nested 

 on the then undrained and unenclosed salt-marshes by the side of the 

 Barnstaple river. Mr. Rudd says that " in the spring its musical cry 

 may be heard in the marshes at a great distance," and it is probable that 

 it is also a nesting species in Cornwall. In Dorset it is common, resident 

 all the year, and is known to nest. In Somerset we have met with it in 

 the spring and autumn ; and although Mr. Cecil Smith had no evidence 

 that it bred anywhere in the county, it is not unlikely that it does in 

 suitable localities, which are numerous enough. 



Spotted Redshank. Totanus fuscus (Linii.). 



[Dusky Redshank, Spotted Snipe of Montagu.] 



A casual visitor, of rare occurrence, principally to the south coast of 

 the county, where it has been generally seen in the month of August. 

 It has only once been known to occur iu the early part of the year, in the 

 month of February. 



