Mediterranean region, the coasts of North Africa, and the Nile Valley,
the marshes of Iraq and the Indian Peninsula east of Burma. It has been
recorded from the Azores, Maderia, and the Canaries; is common in
suitable localities along the North African littoral from Morocco
through Algeria and Tunisia to Egypt, and has been recorded from the
Egyptian Sudan, Kordofan, and Abyssinia, and exceptionally as far South
as Natal. In Asia it ranges to the Persian Gulf, the Indian Peninsular,
but scarce in the south, Ceylon, Burma, etc., while the eastern race
visits the islands of Malaysia and ranges to Australia.
_Spring migration._--The northward movement from Morocco takes place in
February and March and it appears in Andalusia in February (late date
April 6). In Corsica it has been noted as late as April 23 and on
passage, Malta, March 24-25. In Tunisia it is most plentiful in February
and March, and does not stay in Egypt after March (late date April 7).
It also stays in the plains of northern India until March (late date
Delhi, May 25). It passes through Portugal in February and March; Italy
in March and April; Greece (February 10, March 7, etc.); Montenegro,
large flock March 17-25; Bulgaria (March 10-31, flock of 200 on April
1).
_Fall migration._--The southward bound hosts arrive in Andalusia in
August-September, but in Portugal, though a few appear in September,
most pass in October. In north Italy the earliest arrival dates from the
end of July, and in the Balkan Peninsular and the passage lasts from
September to November (early date August 18, Bulgaria, late date
November 13, Bulgaria), reaching Egypt in October. At the Euphrates
marshes it arrives early in August and reaches India in October (early
date, Nepal, September 7).
_Egg dates._--In Holland and Germany the first eggs may be found in the
last 10 days of April and early May, but as they are largely taken for
the market at that time, many sets in collections are second and even
third layings. Seven records, April 18-30; 10 records, May 1-10; 12
records, May 11-20; 8 records, May 21-25. In Jutland breeding is rather
later; six records May 10-15; and still later in Iceland, six records,
May 23-June 2.
GLOTTIS NEBULARIA (Gunnerus)
GREENSHANK
_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_
HABITS
The claim of this species to a place in the North American list dates
back to Audubon, who obtained three specimens on Sand Key, near Cape
Sable, Florida. Since that occurrence no other specimens have been
obtained.
_Courtship._--There are few species the study of whose family life is
attended with greater difficulties than the greenshank. In the first
place it is an exceedingly wary and keen-sighted bird, and furthermore,
it is not sociable during the breeding season, each pair nesting apart
from its fellows in some of the wildest and most desolate country
imaginable. In the British Isles its main breeding grounds are on the
vast expanse of sodden moorland, interspersed here and there by lochs
and "flows" (stretches of water-logged ground with black peaty pools),
which cover a great part of the Scottish counties of Sutherland,
Caithness, and Ross. Further southward it also breeds on suitable ground
in Inverness-shire and other parts, but here the country is more broken
and varied and there are big stretches of old pine forest and more
modern coniferous plantations. In both classes of country observation is
attended with difficulties. On the open treeless moorlands houses are
few and far between, the climate is anything but inviting in early May,
rainstorms are frequent, varied by squalls of hail and fogs, while in
some seasons heavy snowfalls take place from time to time. On the other
hand the country is open, with few hills of any size, and the direction
of the birds' flight can be marked for long distances, while further
south, though the extent of possible breeding ground is infinitely
smaller, it is far more difficult to follow a bird in flight as it skims
over a belt of forest or round a shoulder of a hill. So it is little
wonder that of the actual courtship of the greenshank we have hardly
anything on record. What little we know may be classified under two
heads; the wonderful song flight of the male and the ritual of the
courtship itself. The song flight may be seen even after incubation has
begun, though possibly only in the earlier stages, and has been noticed
by several observers. The fullest and best description is that of Mr. J.
Walpole Bond (1923), which may be summarized as follows:
When singing, the greenshank rises fairly high--sometimes very
high--above the moor and starts by soaring, head to wind, of
course. It may then remain soaring, looking very hawklike indeed,
while it sings. Or else--and this generally happens--it varies the
performance by proceeding in a succession of downward, inverted
arcs of good size, though soaring is resumed for a few moments as
the summit of each curve is reached. In this case "singing" only
takes place on the downward portion of the curve; on the down
curve, too, the wings are sometimes vibrated very rapidly.
Sometimes also when the "song" itself is in progress the wings are
flicked up and down with measured rhythm.
The song itself is a musical and moderately fast repeated dissyllable
_tew-hoo_, a rich note, harmonizing with the desolate surroundings in
which bird life, except for an occasional meadow pipit, (_Anthus
pratensis_) is often almost entirely absent. Walpole Bond also notes a
twanging and metallic _chuck_, _dock_, or _duk_, sometimes heard after
each quick _tew-hoo_, and questions whether this latter sound is vocal
or caused by wings or tail. Personally I have not noticed the latter
sound, perhaps because I have generally heard the song at a great height
and always at some distance. It should be added that this performance is
often kept up for long periods. Gilroy (1922) mentions a case when it
lasted for twenty minutes, and though I have not timed the birds, I have
heard it more or less continually for ten or twelve minutes, ending with
a precipitate dive earthwards. Of the actual courtship ritual I have
seen no published record. The birds arrive on their breeding ground
early in April. On an occasion when a heavy snowfall had practically
wiped out all early nests on the Caithness-Sutherland moors, I saw two
birds on a little sandy spit by the side of a small loch. The male was
evidently pressing his attentions on his mate and approached her with
high flapping wings, showing the underside almost as the redshank does,
and actually raising his wing over the hen until at last coition took
place. Both birds remained quiet for some little time afterwards and
then rose together and flew away, calling all the time.
_Nesting._--The information with regard to the nesting habits in all the
older works is of the baldest and scantiest nature, but the last decade
has seen a great advance in our knowledge and Mr. N. Gilroy (1922) in
particular has published a fascinating little pamphlet on this bird in
which his observations on over twenty nests examined between 1906 and
1922 are carefully coordinated, so that now the actions and movements of
breeding birds are much better understood. The whole account is of the
deepest interest, but as it extends to some twenty pages it is only
possible here to give a short résumé of the present stage of our
knowledge. The greenshank generally nests within easy reach of some
small lochan, often a mere pool, to which the young can easily be led by
the parents soon after they are hatched out. The nest itself is usually
on dry ground. On the treeless moorlands of Southerland Caithness it is
almost always made either close up against or actually on one of the
many grey bits of rock lying amongst the heather. Exceptionally it has
been found on the top of a hummock, but as a rule should be looked for
within a few hundred yards of the feeding ground, sometimes quite
exposed but difficult to see as the sitting bird exactly resembles in
color the grey stones lying about and generally sits till almost trodden
on. In the Inverness country the birds nest close to a mark, just as the
Sutherland birds do, but here instead of a grey boulder it is usually a
bit of bleached and dead pine, of which thousands of fragments lie
scattered about. Exceptionally I have known a bird make use of an iron
fence post as a mark. When a bird has been found standing about the edge
of some tiny pool the probability is that his mate is sitting not far
away, but the difficulty of finding her is vastly increased by the fact
that the main feeding ground is generally by the side of a good-sized
lake, which may be any distance from one to four miles away, and here
one of the pair may spend the greater part of the day. Moreover, it is
not uncommon to find that several pairs of birds use the same lakeside
as their main resting and feeding ground. Even so, if the sexes changed
duties at short intervals or behaved in exactly the same manner, it
would not be a matter of great difficulty to trace a bird back to its
nesting ground. But there seems to be considerable individual variation
in this respect. There is, however, a very strong tendency to return to
the same breeding place year after year. The classical case is T. E.
Buckley's record of a nest found between two stones which was again
occupied two seasons later presumably by the same bird, but there are
innumerable cases where two or three nesting sites, used in as many
years, lie within one hundred yards of one another. This makes the
discovery of nests much easier if one can revisit the district for two
or more years in succession. New nests are merely saucer-like
depressions with a few heather stalks and some dead bents, but almost
always some leaves of bay myrtle or bilberry in the hollow, and if the
bird has begun to sit, some of its own small breast feathers.
_Eggs._--Normally, four in number, occasionally only three, while five
have occurred; second layings usually consist of three eggs. Larger
numbers, such as eight, recorded by Booth, are probably due either to
two hens laying together or one clutch spoilt by weather and a second
laid subsequently. They are pyriform in shape and wonderfully handsome,
the ground color varies from stone color to warm buff, marked sometimes
sparingly and sometimes freely with irregular spots and blotches of deep
red-brown, as well as ashy or purplish shell marks. In most eggs the
markings are heavier at the large end. The measurements of 100 eggs
average 51.41 by 34.80 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure =59.8= by =37.7=, =45.8= by 35.4, and 50.4 by =32.4=
millimeters.
_Young._--That incubation is sometimes shared by both sexes is proved by
the fact that both Walpole Bond and Seton Gordon have witnessed the
change of duties and the latter has actually photographed the birds in
the act of changing places. Yet Gilroy watched one bird from 10.45 a. m.
to 7.50 p. m., which remained all the time at a loch side in Sutherland
on May 16, although its mate was sitting on a clutch of fresh eggs.
Evidently there is considerable individual variation in this respect.
_Plumages._--The molts and plumages are fully described in "A Practical
Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), to which
the reader is referred.
_Food._--During the breeding season the food consists chiefly of insects
and their larvae, but tadpoles and frog spawn are freely taken and Oswin
Lee records a pair feeding busily for nearly an hour in the evening on
them, and small water beetles. Freshwater mollusca, such as _Planorbis_,
are also taken and occasionally a small fish. Along insects the
following genera of Coleoptera have been recorded: _Phyllopertha_,
_Cneorhinus_, _Harpalus_, _Dytiscus_, _Gyrinus_, _Aphodius_, and
_Ilybius_. Among Diptera, Tipula and their larvae; also _Notonecta
glauca_ and _Lestes nympha_. In the autumn and winter a great part of
the food is picked up on the coast and includes worms, lug-worms,
crustacea (_Palaemon_, _Crangon_, _Hippolyte_, _Squilla_, and in large
numbers Gammaridae).
_Behavior._--Although a large proportion of its breeding area is
absolutely devoid of trees, the greenshank also nests in country
intersected by belts of forest, and it is interesting to note that it
perches readily on trees and makes good use of them as lookout posts. It
is always wary and readily takes alarm, rising with loud outcry on the
approach of danger. As MacGillivray notes, when searching for food it
often wades out into the water until it reaches nearly to the tarsal
joint and moves "with rapidity, running rather than walking and almost
constantly vibrating its body." It is interesting to note the difference
in the behavior of individual birds under similar circumstances. As a
rule the incubating bird sits very closely and will sometimes allow
herself to be touched before leaving the eggs. When flushed one bird
will spring up and dart away with rapid flight and a single cry of
alarm, another will for a minute or two fly about with deafening clamor,
and in one case a bird dashed off but pitched about five yards away,
yelping loudly and next minute flew straight at my head, with repeated
cries of _Ip, chip, chip, ip, chip, chip_, etc. Just as it reached me it
sheered off with its long green legs dangling, but returned to the
charge again, repeating the process ten or twelve times, after which it
settled on the ground and called vociferously, but after 10 minutes had
passed flew away still calling. This behavior was, of course, quite
exceptional.
N. Gilroy (1922) lays great stress on one note uttered when the bird is
about to take its place on the eggs. This is a clear, piercing cry of
_Tchook-tchook-tchook_, continually uttered till the bird settles down
on the nest. It does not necessarily imply that the bird is rendered
uneasy by the presence of a watcher and is apparently used even when the
bird is quite undisturbed, so if one is lucky enough to be within
earshot when it is uttered it forms a valuable clue to the position of
the nest.
_Fall._--When the young are fledged the family parties make their way to
the coast. Here they frequent the "pools of brackish water at the heads
of the sand fords and the shallow margins of the bays and creeks" as
MacGillivray says. The same writer describes its flight as "rapid,
gliding, and devious, it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands
and vibrates." By September or October at the latest it leaves its
haunts in Scotland and makes its way southward along the coast line.
_Winter._--Although there are a few midwinter records even in the
British Isles by far the greater proportion of these birds spend the
winter from the Mediterranean southward and in southern Asia, the Malay
Archipelago, Australia, etc. Here they are chiefly known as shore birds,
only occasionally being found by the sides of inland lakes and marshes.
DISTRIBUTION
_Breeding range._--Scotland, chiefly in the north, but has extended its
range of late years; Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, south to the
governments of St. Petersburg, Pskov, Tula, Riazan, Kazan, and Ufa;
across northern Asia to Kamchatka, south to latitude 55° in the west and
54° in the east.
_Winter range._--The Mediterranean countries and Africa, south to Cape
Province and Natal; in Asia, India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, China, Hainan,
Formosa, and Japan; Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Timor,
Sumatra, Norfolk Island, Australia, and New Zealand.
_Spring migration._--From its winter quarters in South Africa it is
recorded from Morocco (Mogador) in May and near Gibraltar in March,
April, and May (late date May 22); passes Corsica in some numbers (May
8), arrives in Greece, where some also winter, at the end of March and
in April, leaving in May (late date May 8); leaves Egypt in March;
passes Cyprus in April and leaves the marshes of lower Iraq at the end
of April, and also leaves India about the same time. In France it
arrives late in April or early May, and in Spain has been observed as
late as the third week of May, even in the south. First arrivals reach
South Russia in March and pass through north Germany about mid-April,
arriving on the British coasts from the middle of April onward and in
south Sweden in the latter part of May.
_Fall migration._--While the spring migration is usually noticed only in
small numbers, in pairs or even singly, the fall migration is better
marked. From mid-July to late in November they may be met with on the
British coasts, but most birds leave in September-October, passing
through Holland in August and September-October; in North France (early
date mid-July), and reaching Spain in September, crossing over the
Straits of Gibraltar in October, and Malta in September (occasionally in
June, July, and August, probably non-breeders). From Bulgaria it is
reported in September (early date August 20); Montenegro, September
(early date July 19); Cyprus, October 3; and Greece, arrives in
September. Some birds reach the marshes of Iraq at the end of July, but
mostly in August, and in India from the middle to the end of September,
Pegu in October. Along the west coast of Africa they are noted from
Mogador (September), Gambia (September), Gold Coast (September 13), Cape
Province and Natal (September-October).
_Casual records._--Has occurred in Madeira, the Canaries, Azores,
Mauritius (once). Cape Verde Islands, Florida (Audubon), Norfolk Island,
Chile, and Buenos Ayres.
_Egg dates._--Some 39 dates from Scotland all fall in May. The earliest
date for a full clutch is May 9. From May 9 to 16 (22 dates), 17 to 23
(11 dates), 23 to 28 (5 dates).
TOTANUS TOTANUS (Linnaeus)
REDSHANK
_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_
HABITS
The redshank is a recent addition to the American list. Two specimens
have been shot near Angmagsalik, in East Greenland, the first on May 29,
1902, and the second on April 24, 1909, and were recorded by the
superintendent, Johan Petersen. Unfortunately, neither bird was sent to
Copenhagen, so it remains uncertain whether they belong to the typical
race or to the larger form described by Lehn Schiøler as _T. totanus
robustus_. Doctor Coues suggested (1897) that the redshank should be
included in the hypothetical list of North American birds on the ground
of a specimen said to have been taken on Hudson Bay and transmitted to
the British Museum, where, however, it is not to be found.
_Courtship._--Fortunately we have very full accounts of the courtship
and love song of this species from the observations of Messrs. E.
Selous, W. Farren, and J. S. Huxley. Mr. Farren's (1910) account
(incorporating much of Mr. Selous's notes) is as follows:
In courting, the male redshank approaches the female with his head
erect and his body drawn up tall and straight. As he draws near he
raises his wings high above his head for an instant as when
alighting on the ground after a flight. Then allowing his wings
gradually to droop he vibrates them and also his legs, the latter
very rapidly, with a motion suggestion of a soldier "marking time."
Mr. Selous (1906) has described this action, including the
vibrating of the wings and legs, as follows: "The male bird,
walking up to the female, raises his wings gracefully above his
back. They are considerably elevated, and for a little he holds
them aloft merely; but soon, drooping them to about half their
former elevation, he flutters them tremulously and gracefully as
though to please her." The female, as though unimpressed, turned
from him and continued to feed, which did not greatly disturb her
amorous wooer, as he also commenced to peck about as though
feeding. But very soon he again walks up to the female "and now
raising his wings to the fluttering height only, flutters them
tremulously as before. He walks on a few steps and stops. He again
approaches, and standing beside her--both being turned the same
way--with his head and neck as it were curved over her, again
trembles his wings, at the same time making a little rapid motion
with his red legs on the ground as though he were walking fast, yet
not advancing." This action occurs with fair frequency during the
period before egg laying. I have witnessed it several times, having
first been attracted by the raised wings of the male, rendered
conspicuous by the white secondaries and undersides, without which
I should probably not have seen the birds at all.
The habit of deliberately extending the wings upward on alighting, and
thus exposing the light undersurface is one of the most characteristic
actions of the redshank, and the white gleaming of the wing for a
second or so before the wings are furled often enables one to identify
the species even when the birds themselves are too far off to be
recognized otherwise. Mr. Farren (1910) also adds:
Redshanks are fond of perching, either on horizontal branches of
trees, on posts or rails; in the Cambridgeshire fens I have seen
them displaying, as described by Stevenson, on the long low stacks
of freshly dug peat, and also on the ground. A male may be seen
running fussily about in front of the female, vibrating its body
and drooping its wings and often uttering a note similar to the
trilling song which accompanies the spring soaring flight.
J. S. Huxley (1912) gives a clearer and more complete picture of the
courtship than any previous describer. The first stage consists in the
pursuit of a hen by a male bird. Directly he stops feeding and runs
after her, she runs away. Never in a straight line for any distance, but
in a series of curves, often doubling back and sometimes describing a
circle or even a figure of eight, while the cock follows her line a few
yards behind. The cock's head is held sideways at an angle of quite 20
degrees with the line of his body in order to keep the hen in view, and
his neck is stiffly stretched out. His pure white tail is expanded so
that half is visible on each side of his folded wings. The chase often
lasts for quite a long time, when the hen flies off leaving the male
disconsolate, but sometimes she will stop and then the second stage
begins.
The male may run on a yard or two, but soon stops.
He first unfolds his wings and raises them right above his back so
as to expose their conspicuous undersurface of pure white, somewhat
clouded or barred with grey. Then fluttering them tremulously but
keeping them raised all the time he advances very, very slowly
towards the hen, lifting his feet high in the air and often putting
them down scarcely in advance of where they were before. Meantime
as he steps on he stretches his neck a little forward, opens his
mouth, and gives utterance to a single continuous note, which is
changed into a long roll or rattle by the quick vibration of the
lower mandible. The sound is quite like that of a nightjar, but
higher and without any of the little breaks in the pitch of the
note. So he advances closer and closer, the hen usually remaining
motionless. Again at any time during this stage she may reject his
suit by flying off, but if she is going to accept him, she simply
stays still, often without moving a muscle the whole time. As the
cock gets closer, he gets more and more excited, vibrates his wings
more and more rapidly, at length so fast that almost his whole
weight is supported by them, though he still continues to execute
the high stepping movements with his feet. At last when just behind
the hen, he abandons the ground and flutters up on to her back on
which he half alights. The period when he is there on her back is
the third and last state of the courtship; it is very short and is
of course in a sense nothing more than getting into the proper
position for the actual pairing. Sometimes the hen, suddenly
repugnant, gives a violent jerk or sideways twist and shakes him
forcibly on to the ground, herself running or flying away.
Occasionally, however, she apparently is satisfied; she spreads her
tail diagonally and the cock with a quick and wonderfully graceful
motion, half supported all the time by his fluttering wings,
accomplishes the act of pairing. Then the hen gives the same
violent twist that I have just mentioned, he gets shaken off, and
they both begin quietly feeding, often side by side.
The love flight of the redshank is a very striking feature of the
courtship and may be seen even after incubation has begun. J. S. Huxley
(1912) describes it as follows: