2o8 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



the House Martin, as the bird flies away with its 

 back towards you. This is the Green Sandpiper 

 {lotanus ochropus), which may be looked for annually 

 in spring and autumn, in such situations as are 

 commonly affected by its smaller relative above 

 named. Unlike other Sandpipers which nest on 

 the ground, this bird has a singular habit of laying 

 its eggs in the deserted nest of a Thrush, Magpie, 

 or Pigeon, sometimes at a considerable elevation, 

 and on this account no doubt they have often 

 escaped observation. From the fact of the Green 

 Sandpiper having been met with in pairs during 

 the summer months, in situations eminently suited 

 to its habits, it is not unlikely that it has occasion- 

 ally reared its young in this country, but although 

 there is much circumstantial evidence in that direc- 

 tion, the fact of its having bred in any part of the 

 British Islands has never been satisfactorily estab- 

 lished. 



But now, the punt having emerged from the 

 reeds into the open, we see a great expanse of 

 water, and in the distance a lot of birds, swimming 

 so low as to make it difficult to distinguish the 

 species. But as we draw nearer to them all 

 doubts are resolved. Some Ducks and Teal take 

 wing and go off in separate parties, the latter in 

 close order and flying with great rapidity, the 

 former more scattered and with higher and heavier 

 flight. There still remain behind upon the surface, 

 and quickly making for the nearest reed bed, a 

 number of birds that look black in the distance, 

 but have a conspicuously white forehead. These 



