180 



8 



cured on Prince's Island by Dr. Dohrn. A specimen shot on the Gold Coast on the 13th of Sep- 

 tember 1868 fixes the date of its sojourn in West Africa. 



We do not consider its claim to admission into the American avifauna rests on very good 

 grounds. Audubon had procured a specimen from Florida ; and the Leiden Museum has examples 

 said to be from Buenos Ayres and Chili. 



The following account of its breeding in the Hebrides was given by the late Professor 

 Macgillivray : — 



" In the outer Hebrides it is seen early in summer, and generally departs in October, 

 although I have seen individuals there in November. Previously to the commencement of the 

 breeding-season, and after the young are fledged, it resorts to the shores of the sea, frequenting 

 pools of brackish water at the head of the sand fords, and the shallow margins of the bays and 

 creeks. Its habits are very similar to those of the Pedshank, with which it associates in autumn. 

 It is extremely shy and vigilant, insomuch that one can very seldom shoot it, unless after it has 

 deposited its eggs. Many individuals remain during the summer, when they are to be found by 

 the lakes in the interior, of which the number in Uist, Harris, and Lewis is astonishing. At that 

 season it is very easily discovered ; for when one is perhaps more than a quarter of a mile distant, 

 it rises into the air with clamorous cries, alarming all the birds in its neighbourhood, flies round 

 the place of its nest, now wheeling off to a distance, again advancing, and at intervals alighting, 

 by the edge of the lake, when it continues its cries, vibrating its body all the while. I once 

 found a nest of this bird in the island of Harris. It was at a considerable distance from a small 

 lake, and consisted of a few fragments of heath and some blades of grass, placed in a shallow cavity 

 scraped in the turf in an exposed place — that is, on a slight eminence covered chiefly with moss, 

 lichens, some carices and short heath. The nest, in fact, resembled those of the Golden Plover, 

 Lapwing, and Curlew. The eggs, placed with their narrow ends together, were four in number, 

 pyriform, larger than those of the Lapwing, and smaller than those of the Golden Plover, equally 

 pointed with the latter, but proportionately broader and more rounded at the larger end than 

 those of either. The dimensions of one of them, still in my collection, are two inches exactly by 

 one inch and three eighths. The ground-colour is a very pale yellowish-green, sprinkled all over 

 with irregular spots of dark brown, intermixed with blotches of light purplish grey, the spots, 

 especially the blotches, more numerous on the larger end. Although in summer these birds may 

 be seen in many parts of these islands, they are yet very rare, a pair being to be met with only at 

 an interval of several miles. In ordinary circumstances, the Greenshank searches the shores in 

 muddy places for food, often walking out into the water until it reaches nearly to the tarsal joint; 

 it generally advances with rapidity, running rather than walking, and almost continually vibrating 

 its body. On being disturbed, it stands with upraised neck and with a succession of loud and 

 shrill cries, and, though there should be little danger, flies off to a distance. Its flight is rapid, 

 gliding and devious ; and it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands and vibrates. Its food, 

 no doubt, consists of worms and small shells : but I have neglected to take note of the contents of 

 the stomach of the few individuals which I have examined." 



The late Mr. Wheelwright, in his ' Spring and Summer in Lapland,' has published the 

 following observations: — "Arrived up here among the earliest in the spring and certainly left the 

 earliest in the autumn. As I had a good opportunity of studying the habits of this bird in the 



