THE REDSHANK 
In the summer this bird has upper feathers of 
ash-brown, with a broad dusky streak in the centre, 
and the under-plumage is white, spotted and streaked 
with tawny-brown. In the winter the tints fade, 
and become a paler ash-colour, and the spots and 
markings are not nearly so distinct. 
When the Redshank sees men with guns going 
out to shoot waterfowl, he gives the alarm by a 
long screaming cry, and off fly all the birds. 
Almost as soon as the young are hatched they 
leave the nest, so that the mother has really very 
little trouble with them. Nevertheless she is fond 
and devoted, and guards them well, while the Father 
Redshank, for his part, thinks that his duties as a 
parent are finished as soon as the young ones chip 
the shell, and from that time he pays them next 
to no attention. 
The cry of the Redshank sounds as if he were 
calling ‘Middle, liddle, liddle.” 
When caught he is easily tamed and will soon 
become fond of the one who feeds him. In cap- 
tivity he eats quantities of raw meat, chopped fine, 
and worms also, and grain. 
