Birds. 927 



The Green Sandpiper. A pair of these birds breeds regularly in 

 the marshes near Yarmouth, as recorded by Mr. Yarrell. October 

 26, 1843, I obtained a specimen, shot in Appuldurcombe Park : it had 

 frequented the neighbourhood for some weeks. During the preceding 

 summer another was seen frequently on a pond at Wacklands. May 

 1, 1844, I flushed a green sandpiper in Newchurch-marshes : it was 

 not to be found on the following day, or subsequently. Dec. 13, 1844, 

 I received a specimen, shot the day before near Newtown. 



The Common Sandpiper frequents the sea-shore, and puzzles me. 

 Two or three pairs usually make their appearance at Bonchurch about 

 the end of April. There they remain till I leave home about the first 

 week in July ; when I return towards the end of August, there they 

 are still, and not always increased in number. In the summer of 

 1842, three sandpipers frequented the shore ; I saw them nearly every 

 day ; I heard them nearly every night. I left them there when I went 

 from home in July ; I found them still there on my return in August. 

 These birds could not have bred. Others have puzzled me nearly as 

 much subsequently : for I have left the pair on the beach, and, on my 

 return, found a family party. If they bred with us, they commenced 

 business very late. Incubation had not commenced certainly when I 

 left home, or I should have missed one bird : and when I returned, I 

 could scarcely distinguish the young from the parent birds ; for they 

 were full grown. 



The sandpiper is said to betray by its anxiety the presence of its 

 nest. It may be so ; but I was once fairly beaten by one of these 

 birds on the bank of a loch in the Highlands. I passed the spot 

 every day nearly, on the way to my fishing- ground ; and every day 

 did I flush this bird, detecting it running before it rose. One day I 

 determined I would find the nest, which I could not doubt to exist in 

 the immediate neighbourhood. I laid down my fishing traps, and 

 commenced a deliberate search. The bird, which had flown only 

 some twenty yards, immediately returned, and squatted on a stone 

 close to me, as if to watch my movements. It would allow me to ap- 

 proach within six feet. I hunted for a full half hour ; but all in vain. 

 While there sat the bird, uttering its low, prolonged, plaintive pipe, 

 but showing no symptoms of alarm. Indeed, as if satisfied of the se- 

 curity of its nest, it preened itself, and, except for its note, appeared 

 perfectly at ease. I suspect the nest was not quite so near as I sup- 

 posed it to be ; and that the coolness of the bird resulted from a con- 

 sciousness of having set me on a wrong scent. 



I once witnessed an instance of the power of diving possessed by 



