62 



On the Ornithology of Wilts [Scolopaci(tcc~\. 



having been obtained in his own parish in 1838, killed in Sutton 

 Mead, whore it had been observed alone for some time. 



"Green Sandpiper." (Totanus ochropus.) This and the follow- 

 ing speeies seem interlopers in the midst of the Snipe family, and 

 scarcely deserve to be classed with them, for their beaks are neither 

 so long nor so sensitive, and they seek their food on the surface as 

 much as below the mud. In other respects they are closely allied 

 to the other members of the family. The Green Sandpiper is by 

 no means a common bird in England, but it has been shot by the 

 late Mr. Marsh in the water-meadows at Salisbury in 1833. It 

 does not remain on the sea- coast, when it reaches our island in its 

 migrations, but proceeds at once to the rivers and streams of the 

 interior. I have met with it in great abundance in Egypt in winter, 

 and I have seen it in summer in its breeding haunts in Norway. 



(i Common Sandpiper." (Totanus hypoteucos.) This is a far 

 more common species than the last, as its trivial name implies, and 

 may be frequently met with in summer on the banks of our streams, 

 and even occasionally on our downs. I am told that it is especially 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of Salisbury. It is an elegant 

 little bird, and all its movements are graceful and pleasing ; 

 whether on the wing, as it skims over the surface of the water 

 with a shrill piping whistle ; or on foot, as perched on a stone, it 

 continually moves its tail up and down, or runs with great rapidity 

 by the margin of the stream. I found this species also both in 

 Egypt and in Norway. It is known to many under the name of 

 " Summer Snipe." 



" Greenshank." (Totanus glottis.) It is again through the 

 kindness of my good friend, the Rev. George Powell of Sutton 

 Yeny, that I am enabled to include this rare species in my list of 

 "Wiltshire birds. The specimen in question was procured in his 

 immediate neighbourhood, having been observed on the 27th of 

 August, 1868, by Mr. William Swayne in the Knook meadows in 

 the parish of Heytesbury ; and, after flushing it several times, that 

 gentleman contrived to get a shot at it as it rose from some rushes, 

 and killed it. It appeared to have been wearied by previous long 

 flight ; and my informant, who examined the bird carefully, and is 



