BIRDS. 303 
on the sea-shore, they acquire a kind of rankness, which is 
so strong, that, unless they are basted on the spit with 
vinegar, they are not agreeable eating. 
THE REDSHANK. (Scolopax, or Totanus calidris.) 
THIS bird has received its name from the colour of its 
legs, which are of a crimson red. In size it may be 
reckoned intermediate between the lapwing and the snipe, 
and it is sometimes called the Pool Snipe. The head and 
back are of a dusky ash-colour, spotted with black, the 
throat party-coloured black and white, the black being 
drawn down along the feathers. The breast is whiter, 
with fewer spots. The Redshank delights in the fen coun- 
tries, and in wet and marshy grounds, where it breeds 
and rears its young. The female lays four whitish eggs, 
with olive-coloured dashes, and marked with irregular 
spots of black. Pennant and Latham say, "it flies 
round its nest when disturbed, making a noise like a lap- 
wing." It is not so common on the sea-shore as several 
others of its kindred species. We must observe here, 
that this bird has often been mistaken for others. The 
fact is, that several birds changing their plumage and in- 
creasing or diminishing their size according to their age, 
the season of the year, and the climate they live in, set 
