TOTAXTJS STAGNATTLIS. 847 



the "Marsh-Sandpiper" at work on one of these little tidal pools. But fire into the busy troop, and, as is 

 sometimes the case when birds are scattered, miss them clean ! It is then that we discover the true nature of 

 our Little Greenshank. Up he starts, screaming and piping with rage, and, after flying round and round the 

 pond, still fussing and fuming at having been so rudely disturbed, he settles down quickly, and commences to 

 hunt anew, screaming all the while as if it were impossible to exhaust his rage, until he espies the looked-for 

 quarry and suddenly relapses into silence. 



It is often to be seen consorting with its larger relative, as its long legs enable it to feed in just as deep 

 water as that species, and occasionally it associates with the Wood-Sandpiper. As a rule, it is generally 

 observed in little parties of two, three, or four, and is often found singly. At times I have seen it in little 

 troops of more than a dozen, tightly packed together, and assembled evidently to " work " some particularly 

 promising spot ; they all advance in the same direction, with their heads down, rapidly scooping up the tiny 

 crustaceans and larvae on which they feed. Small univalves and other minute shells are to be found in its 

 stomach, and I think aquatic insects form the least part of its food. It seldom, as far as I have been able to 

 judge, frequents fresh water in Cej'lon, though it may occasionally be seen in paddy-fields ; but in India 

 Jerdon found it in "young rice-fields and open marshy spots." Its flight is swift, and has the same darting 

 gliding character as that of other Sandpipers. Mr. Thos. Robson, in writing to Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser, 

 remark that they rest within the edges of marshes with muddy bottoms, on one leg; and when disturbed they 

 hop out and rise from one leg. 



Nidification. — As stated above, Severtzoff says that the Little Greenshank breeds in Turkestan in the 

 northern and south-eastern districts of the country. We learn nothing, however, of its nest and eggs from 

 his writings. It has, however, been found nesting in Hungary in June ; and Mr. Dresser received its eggs 

 from the Curator of the Pesth Museum. There are no details of the nest published by any author to whose 

 works I have access ; but it is to be inferred that the nest is similar to that of the last species. I find from an 

 examination of a series that the eggs vary in ground-colour from dull clay-stone to olivaceous grey ; they are 

 moderately pyriform in shape, and are very handsomely and richly marked, some with very dark almost black 

 straggling blotches, running into hieroglyphic-like dashes, over blots of paler brown and specks of bluish grey, 

 and others with moderately-sized rather round blots of deep sepia, chiefly distributed over the large end, 

 mingled with smaller specks and underlying washes of bluish grey. In one egg the large straggling clouds 

 take an oblique direction, and impart a very handsome appearance to it. One egg in a series of five measures 

 164 by 1"06 inch, and another T49 by T07. These eggs, which were taken in Lapland, are in the collection 

 of Mr. Dresser. 



