Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/326

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THE ZOOLOGIST.

under a willow bush on June 28th, but on our return to camp we found that he had boiled and eaten them, hard-set as they were!

Redshank (T.calidris).—There were several pairs of Redshanks on the upper reaches of the river, and also on some of the marshes on the fjeld, both to the north and south. They all, by their actions, had young, but we did not trouble to search for them.

Greenshank (T. canescens).—We saw altogether three pairs of Greenshanks in the valley, all near the lower end. Two pairs were together in a very wet marsh in the woods, and the third pair in a similar place, about a mile distant from the others. Of all the waders, except perhaps the Wood-Sandpiper, the Greenshank is the noisiest and most restless. All these pairs probably had young, and seemed to spend their whole time either flying round or sitting on the tops of dead birches, whistling and chattering continuously. When we were near they all joined in mobbing us; when we hid up they mobbed every passing Magpie or Crow, and, when there was no Magpie or Crow, each pair seemed to be mobbing the other. The young must have been squatting somewhere in the tussocks of the marsh, or in the wood near; but in the thick wood that surrounded the marsh on every side, it was impossible to keep the birds under observation for more than a few minutes at a time; while the mosquitoes that accompanied us in a grey cloud wherever we went immediately got to work in thousands directly we sat down, and made bird-watching an almost unbearable torture.

Whimbrel (Numenius phæopus).—On several occasions, when on the fjeld, a flock of six or eight Whimbrels flew up from a long distance off, and settled near us, feeding as often on the dry moss as in a wet place. Only once did we come across a single bird, and that was on July 3rd; she rose a good distance in front, but flew away silently and low, and settled some way off. Thinking she had risen from the nest, we marked the spot, and hid up behind some rocks about two hundred yards away; she was soon joined by her mate, who flew up, whistling loudly, from some distance off. Keeping our glasses constantly on her, we saw her run about for a long time, and then fly back to the place from which she rose first, but settled some way off, and then ran to the top of a ridge, where she stood for a quarter of an hour, with her neck stretched up to its fullest extent, keeping a careful watch for any signs of danger. When she had finally satisfied herself that all was right, she ran straight down the ridge towards us, and, much to our delight, we saw her settle down on the moss in almost the exact spot that we thought she had originally risen from. On rising, we had hardly taken two steps before she was off again, flying away exactly as she had done