322 
THE GREENSHAFK TATLER. 
their plumage. We did not find any afterwards ; but it is probable that we 
had seen some previously, although we did not endeavour to procure them, 
having supposed them to be Tell-tales. Almost all the birds seen in the 
Floridas at this date had young or eggs ; and this circumstance increased 
my surprise at finding all the three individuals to be males. They had 
been shot merely because they offered a tempting opportunity, being all close 
together, and it is not often that one can kill three Tell-tales at once. As 
I am not acquainted with the habits of this species, I have applied to my 
friend Mr. Macgillivray, who has kindly furnished me with the following 
notice of them as observed in the Hebrides. 
“ The Greenshank is seen in the Outer Hebrides early in spring, and gene- 
rally departs in October, although I have observed individuals there in 
November. Previous 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 mar- 
gins of bays and creeks. Its habits are very similar to those of the Red- 
shank, 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 
you are 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 towards 
you, and at intervals alighting by the edge of the lake, when it continues its 
cries, vibrating its body all the while. 1 once found a nest of this bird in 
the island of Harris. It was at a considerable distance from the water, 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. The nest, in fact, 
resembled that of the Golden Plover, the Curlew, or the Lapwing. The 
eggs, placed with their narrow ends together, were four in number, pyri- 
form, larger than those of the Lapwing, and smaller than those of the Golden 
Plover, equally pointed with the latter, but proportionally broader and more 
rounded at the larger end than either. The dimensions of one of them, still 
remaining with me, 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, and especially the blotches, more numerous on the larger 
end. Although in summer these birds may be seen in many parts of the 
islands, they are yet very I'are, a pair being to be met with only at an 
