226 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



nesting grounds are deserted, and for the remainder of the year 

 the Redshank haunts the coast. In autumn the resident birds 

 are largely increased in numbers by individuals from higher and 

 colder latitudes, and in places suited to their requirements they 

 are the commonest species of Wader on the coast. Great 

 numbers of these Redshanks do not remain over the winter, 

 only pass along our coasts on their way to more southern 

 haunts ; and during passage in October, a great many are caught 

 in the flight nets of the Wash. At all times of the year the 

 Redshank is a remarkably social bird^ and is more or less 

 gregarious in autumn and winter, frequently consorting with other 

 small birds of the shore. Their favourite haunts are the flat 

 muddy coasts and salt marshes, but odd birds are often flushed 

 from the weed-covered rocks at low water. They are active, 

 lively birds, almost constantly in motion when on the feed, wary 

 and watchful, and amongst the very first to take wing as danger 

 approaches. During residence on the coast the Redshank feeds 

 on crustaceans, sand-worms, mollusks, and other small marine 

 creatures ; but in summer it eats worms, insects and their larvse, 

 small snails, and various kinds of ground fruits and berries. It 

 wades a good deal when feeding, and has been observed to swim 

 across the shallows between the mud-banks, and when wounded it 

 will seek to escape by diving. Its flight is rapid and most unsteady, 

 especially just as the bird rises frightened from the shore ; the 

 long wings are beaten quickly, and the white bar across them is 

 very conspicuous when they are outspread. The usual note of 

 the Redshank is a loud shrill tyii-iyii, most persistently repeated 

 when the bird is excited or alarmed, when it sounds more like 

 the syllables tyik-tyik. During the breeding season the male 

 utters a musical trill, not only when in the air, but as he runs 

 about the ground, or along a fence, or even perches in a tree. 



Nidiflcation. — The Redshank is one of the first birds to 

 leave the coast in spring and to retire to its breeding grounds. 

 The first individuals to leave are those that nest on the broads 

 and fens and swampy moors close to the sea, retiring to these 

 places even in February; those that retire further inland delay 

 their departure until March or early April. It is most attached 

 to certain haunts, visiting them yearly, and in some instances is 



