400 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



southwards to the coasts of Spain and the lagoons of African 

 rivers. August is one of the months in which the Greenshank 

 chiefly travels ; odd birds sometimes appear at the end of July, 

 or even earlier, but August is the first month in which we can 

 depend upon finding Greenshanks, September being equally 

 good. For some weeks of early autumn the Greenshank may 

 thus be studied in his haunts ; and his haunts are limited, as 

 becomes a scarce bird. You will not find him out on the great 

 sandbanks, nor yet on the mussel-beds, which even the Bed- 

 shank sometimes visits. It is almost useless to search for him 

 in the narrow creeks that hold the Green Sandpiper, nor does 

 he affect rocks, except where he has little opportunity for avoid- 

 ing them — at least in my experience ; but a broad and shallow 

 creek, below the brow of a salt marsh, or a nice spit of gravel, 

 please the Greenshank. 



When he has been already disturbed, of course you may see 

 him anywhere along the margin of the estuary ; but he will not 

 willingly stay there long. Give him time and he is sure to hark 

 back to the shelter of the marshes, for he likes shelter and 

 springs of running water. He does not bore for his food in the 

 same way as other Waders do, because his diet is different. 

 Nearly all the shore birds feed principally upon small mollusca, 

 as many dissections have convinced me. But the Greenshank 

 prefers to feed on shrimps and little fishes ; and if these can be 

 procured he will not trouble much about the mollusca. 



I have written of the Greenshank in the singular. Well, you 

 often meet with odd birds of every species, and the Greenshank 

 is not so sociable as many other Waders. But he likes the 

 company of his brethren. When, patrolling the marsh side, you 

 walk on to the top of a likely creek, broad, and full of running 

 water, and hear the familiar cry, the probability is that the next 

 moment you will not see one, but three or four white rumps 

 flying away in hot alarm. 



One afternoon I long watched a flock of nine Greenshanks, 

 newly arrived on the estuary. Though not yet shot at, they 

 were sufficiently wide awake to require a good deal of circum- 

 spection on my part to avoid disturbing them. Some men 

 would have thought it best to stalk and slay them forthwith ; 



