240 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Allied forms. — Totanus fuscus, treated of in the preceding chapter. 

 T. stagnatilis* an inhabitant in summer of the southern Palsearctic region, from 

 the basin of the Mediterranean in the west to the Amoor Valley in the east ; 

 wintering in South Africa, India, and South China. Differs principally from the 

 Greenshank in being much smaller (length of wing, 5"5 inches instead of 7'5 

 inches.) T. guttiferus, an inhabitant in summer of the Amoor, Kamtschatka 

 and Behring Island, and in winter of Burmah and India. Distinguished from 

 all other members of the genus by its combining a white lower back and axillaries, 

 and having the middle toe united by a well-developed web to the other toes. 



Habits. — It is during its passage to and from its northern breeding grounds in 

 spring and autumn that the Greenshank is best known in our Islands, and during 

 those periods it may be met with, not only on the coast, but in the vicinity of 

 many inland waters. It is a bird of very regular passage, beginning to leave its 

 winter quarters early in spring, often the first week in March. It arrives on our 

 coasts from the end of April to the first week or so in May, and reaches Norway 

 during the latter half of May. The return journey begins in August in Holland, in 

 September in our Islands, and lasts through October. During migration it may 

 sometimes be observed in small flocks, especially in Autumn, when the broods 

 and their parents appear to journey in company, but it is most frequently seen in 

 pairs or even alone, and with other Waders. Its actions on the coast are very 

 similar to those of the other Totani. It runs about the muds and amongst the 

 weed-draped rocks at low water, and often wades into the shallows, being always 

 very wary and suspicious, taking wing long before it is within gunshot. Its flight 

 is quick and wavering, and the bird has a habit of dropping suddenly, running a few 

 paces with wings half open, and then, after closing them, shaking its body in a 

 peculiar manner. It frequently perches in trees at its breeding grounds. The 

 food of the Greenshank consists of insects and their larvae, especially beetles, 

 for which the bird sometimes searches amongst the droppings of cattle in the 

 wet meadows. The bird is also said to eat small frogs and tadpoles, and the ova 

 of fish. On the shore it eats crustaceans, and other small marine creatures ; and in 

 inland districts worms and snails are sought. The late Mr. Swaysland on one 

 occasion showed me half-a-dozen small minnows, which he had just taken from 



•The only claim of the Marsh Sandpiper (Totanus stagnatilis— 'Bechstein) to rank as "British" 

 rests upon a single example reputed to have been shot by Mr, Rothschild near the Tring reservoirs, in 

 Hertfordshire, in October, 1887. I am informed by the Hon. Walter Rothschild that the reputed 

 example obtained at Tring reservoir has been lost or destroyed. I see no reason why stray individuals 

 of this Sandpiper should not reach our area, but for the present it is perhaps the wisest course to exclude 

 the species from the British list. It is distributed over the Southern Pilaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, 

 and Australian regions in winter. It breeds from the delta of the Rhone eastwards through the valley of 

 the Danube, South Russia, North Persia (where it is said to be a resident), Turkestan, and South 

 Siberia. North of these limits it is an accidental wanderer only, but an example has been obtained on 

 Heligoland. It is found on the coasts of China during migration, and in winter is an inhabitant of Africa, 

 India, Ceylon, Burmah, and the Malay Archipelago. To South Africa and Australia it can only be 

 regarded as an abnormal migrant. 



