BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 141 



black; under surface white; lower throat, fore-neck, and chest 

 spotted with black; bill blackish-brown; legs and feet yellowish- 

 grey. Dimensions in mm.: — Length, 305; bill, 52; wing, 193; 

 tail, 76; tarsus, 55. 



Female (^breeding plumage). — Similar to male. 



Male and Female {winter plumage). — Upper surface ashy- 

 brown, with whitish 'fringes to the feathers ; lower back, rump, and 

 upper tail coverts white; tail feathers white, barred with brown; 

 wing coverts brownish, fringed with white; secondaries ashy- 

 brown, fringed with white; crown and hind-neck greyish-brown, 

 feathers edged with white; forehead, lores, and sides of face pure 

 white ; sides of neck streaked with ashy-brown ; under surface 

 white ; sides of upper breast freckled with brown ; axillaries white ; 

 iris dark brown ; bill, legs, and feet light slate colour. 



Nest. — " Sometimes builb in a tuft of grass, or concealed 

 amongst the heath and short herbage; it is, according to Mr. 

 Seebohm, very slight, being a mere depression in the ground, 

 lined with a few bits of dry grass or withered leaves" (E. B. 

 Sharpe). 



Eggs. — Clutch four; pyriform in shape; texture fine; surface 

 glossy. According to Dr. Sharpe, the ground colour varies from 

 creamy-buff to deep clay-brown; spotted and blotched with deep 

 chestnut and purplish grey, especially about the stouter end. 

 Dimensions in mm. vary from 42 to 51 by 31 to 34. 



Breeding Season. — May and June. 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 Africa, India, China ; migrating to Northern Europe generally, and 

 parts of Northern Asia, wliere it breeds. 



Observations. — To the late Mr. Tom Carr belongs the honour 

 of being the first to record the Greenshank for Tasmania. This 

 specimen was shot down the Tamar in 1892. 



My first introduction to this species was in 1904, when staying 

 at Kelso, at the mouth of the Tamar. I there recorded: — " Not 

 far away, and sometimes mingling with the Dottrels, were a 

 number of Greenshanks. Their behaviour was a marked contrast 

 to that of the Dottrels ; for, while the latter birds were all hurry • 

 and skurry, the Greenshanks took matters very calmly. While 

 some fished in the pools and along their edges, thrusting their long 

 bills into the mud, others slept or preened their feathers. Now 

 and then a small party would leisurely take flight to another 

 and more distant part of the beach. All the while I had the birds 

 under observation there was constant movement, much coming 

 and going. Attogether there must have been some twenty indi- 

 viduals of this species scattered over different parts of the beach. 

 What made their presence all the more interesting was the fact 

 that the species is but an irregular visitor to our shores, there 

 being but few records of previous visits." 



