Part 6

Summarizing these we find that the birds arrive on their nesting grounds in Germany from the beginning to the middle of April, choosing wooded localities in marshy districts with pools or slow-flowing streams in the neighborhood. Old nests of song thrush, blackbird, mistle thrush, red-backed shrike, and half-ruined nests of jay, woodpigeon, or squirrel are all adopted from time to time. Occasionally the eggs are laid in a hollow where dead leaves and pine needles have accumulated, and holes formerly used by starlings and flycatchers have been taken possession of. The height from the ground varies considerably, some nests may be as much as 35 or 40 feet above the ground while others are only a few feet up. The distance from the nearest water is also variable, as though most nests are within 500 yards, yet occasionally the birds have been known to nest half a mile away.

Meantime H. W. Wheelwright in Sweden had met with an exactly similar state of things, and in the Field newspaper of August 18, 1860, described the tree-nesting habits of this species. The editor, who was ignorant of the evidence of Weise and Hintz, openly expressed his doubts as to the accuracy of the observations, but Wheelwright stuck manfully to his facts and subsequently the editor admitted his mistake. The republication of Wheelwright’s notes in Sweden in 1866 elicited further evidence from Jagmaster Lundborg, who had on one occasion taken the eggs from what appeared to be an old squirrel’s drey or nest. The only important difference in the habits of the bird in the two countries appears to be that nests of the hooded crow (Corvus c. cornix) are freely used in Sweden and also those of the fieldfare (Turdus pilaris).

Like the greenshank, the green sandpiper has a great attachment to certain localities and in some cases the identical nest has been used for two consecutive seasons. In a district where the birds are not scarce, this naturally renders the discovery of the nest much more simple to the resident, and explains the success of Forester Hintz and others in discovering the eggs. Very little in the way of addition appears to be made by the sandpipers to their adopted home and the pine needles which are noted in the interior of old thrushes’ nests may well have dropped from the adjacent trees in the ordinary way.

Eggs.--These are normally four in number, pyriform in shape, rather thin shelled and, as compared with those of the wood sandpiper, generally large and pale in coloring, showing more of the ground colors and fewer markings. The ground color varies from some shade of pale greenish or greenish grey to warm creamy, buffish stone color and light yellowish red. The markings are generally rather fine and in the reddish eggs are rich purplish brown, shading into very dark brown, while in the greenish eggs they are generally less reddish and more purplish in tone. Numerous fine speckles are characteristic and there are generally also some underlying shell marks of violet or ashy. The measurements of 100 eggs average 39.11 by 28.04 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =42= by 28, =41.1= by =30.3=, =34.6= by 26, and 34.8 by =25.7= millimeters.

Young.--As to the shares of the sexes in incubation, there are references to females shot from the nest and males on guard in the neighborhood, but how far this has been confirmed by dissection and how much is surmise it is not easy to say. The incubation period is also unknown. When the young are hatched their stay in the nest is very short. Besides Hintz’s observation, quoted above, of recently hatched young jumping from the nest into the grass on his approach. Wheelwright also found on one occasion four very small young, apparently not a day old, at the foot of a fir, while in the nest overhead were the empty shells, still wet inside. In this case the early abandonment of the nest was not due to human interference. On another occasion Hintz found three young and a chipped egg in a squirrel’s drey about 30 feet up in a birch. The young birds sprang from the nest and alighted on the ground without injuring themselves, concealing themselves at once among the grass.

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.--The main food of this species consists of insects, especially small coleoptera and their larvae, but larval forms of other water insects such as the Phryganeidae are also taken and also larvae of Diptera. Other substances recorded include wood lice, spiders, and not infrequently the very small red worms, which are to be met with on the edges of stagnant pools, but apparently not common earthworms. Traces of vegetable matter are also recorded. H. Stevenson also includes small fresh-water mollusca, and W. Farren, algae, tender shoots of plants and on the seashore thin shelled Crustacea.

Behavior.--The green sandpiper may be met with in the British Islands in almost every month of the year except perhaps June, when it is decidedly rare, though only a few individuals stay with us through the winter. As some birds have undoubtedly stayed through the summer, breeding has been suspected on several occasions, but the evidence has always been unsatisfactory. It occurs most frequently in spring and autumn, sometimes singly and sometimes (especially in autumn), in family parties, haunting the margins of brooks and ponds.

They are much more deliberate in their movements than the common sandpiper and search the mud very thoroughly, boring into it with the bill, probably in search of the small red worms on which they feed. Without being especially shy, they have their wits about them and frequently the piping note which they utter when well on the wing (not just prior to rising) is the first indication of their presence to the shooter. The striking contrast of color between the dark greenish mantle and the snow white rump and tail coverts render its recognition a fairly simple matter. From the wood sandpiper it can be readily distinguished if a glimpse can be caught of the undersurface of the wing, for in the green sandpiper the axillars are very dark, looking almost black, whereas in the wood sandpiper they appear almost white with faint barrings.

Voice.--With regard to the notes, during the breeding season the alarm is given by a loud sharp call which is variously written as gik, giff, yick, yeck, etc., somewhat recalling the nuthatches’ call. Christoleit also describes a pairing song, which bears some resemblance to that of the other sandpipers, but does not make it clear whether it is uttered on the wing or on the ground. In forested country it is naturally not so easy to settle a point of this kind as in open country. The full song is written by him as: Tittittitluidich-luidich titluidie titluidie titluidie-titt-titt. Probably this is the love song and forms part of the courtship, but we still await a connected history of the courtship of this species.

Fall.--Hintz noticed the last birds on their German breeding grounds up to July 25, and it is about the middle of July when the first immigrants appear in the British Isles. The great majority of our visitors have left by November. During the period of its stay it is rarely to be met with on the seashore, but nearly always makes its way inland by means of the water courses, preferring a sheltered brookside or an inland pool to the open marshes.

Winter.--The evidence of wintering in South Africa rests entirely on some old records by Layard, unsupported by skins, but the winter quarters undoubtedly extend to Angola, British Central Africa, and Portuguese East Africa. Unlike so many waders it does not associate in large flocks, but generally is found singly or in small parties on inland waters in preference to the coast. Large numbers winter in Egypt and a good many at suitable spots in the Mediterranean Region. In Luzon (Philippine Islands) Whitehead found it common in December in Benguet, at a height of 4,000 feet, and on Rumenzon it has been met with at 6,000 feet, while in Abyssinia, Jesse describes it as common on the highlands, but did not meet with it on the coast.

DISTRIBUTION

Breeding range.--Northern Europe; but very sparingly in Norway up to Nordland; in Sweden more generally north to the Arctic Circle; Finland to 63° 10´; North Russia south of the White Sea and on the Kamin Peninsula (66° 50´). Southward it breeds in the Baltic Republics, in North Germany (Holstein?, Oldenburg?, Hanover, Mark Brandenburg, Pommern, West and East Prussia, Silesia); sparingly in Bavaria; Czechoslovakia (Bohemia), Galizia and the Carpathians; possibly occasionally in Jutland, but records from South France and North Italy can not be relied on. In Asia it breeds across the continent in the valleys of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, etc., south to Turkestan and Transcaspia.

Winter Range.--The main winter quarters lie in southern Europe and Africa where it ranges south to Portuguese East Africa, British Central Africa, and Angola, perhaps even to the Cape (Layard) and in Asia to Iraq, India, Ceylon, the Andamans, Burma, Cochin China, China, Hainan, Formosa, and the Malay Archipelago (Philippines).

Spring Migration.--In February and March it passes north through Morocco from its African winter quarters, and in Tunisia is most abundant on spring passage in March and April, while its stay in equatorial Africa does not extend beyond March. In the marshes of Iraq it stays till mid May, the spring in North Asia being later than in West Europe. This is also the case in India, where they do not leave till about mid May. In southeast China they pass in the first half of April, usually singly. It has been noted on passage in Corsica in April (late date May 28); some winter on the Balearic Isles where it has been noted up to the end of May, while in Cyprus it is found on passage in March, April, and May (birds seen in Greece on 25th July and in South China on 11th and 24th July were either nonbreeders or extraordinarily early migrants southward). The first arrivals reach their breeding grounds in Germany about the end of March, and in the Baltic states they arrive about the end of March or early April.

Fall migration.--Leaving their breeding grounds in Central Europe about the end of July, they pass the Straits of Gibraltar about August–September and in Greece arrive in some numbers in September. In the Iraq marshes the arrival takes place during August, while in India it sometimes comes during the latter half of July, but more frequently in August. In southeastern China the first arrivals come in about the end of July or early in August, but the main body passes in September or October. In Burma it is generally distributed during the winter months, but apparently does not range down the Malay Peninsula.

Casual records.--It is a winter visitor to Japan and occurs occasionally on the Canaries, but the record from Mauritius must be regarded as doubtful, and that from Australia by R. Hall is due to confusion with T. glareola. Gould’s record from Borneo is also doubtful and the American records can only be received with some suspicion.

Egg dates.--In Germany out of some 25 records only five fall between April 15 and 24. From May 2 to 15 there are nine records, from May 18 to 29 five records, and from June 1 to 23, six records. Probably most of these late dates are due to birds laying again which have been previously robbed. In Sweden all dates fall between May 6 and June 20 (13 records) and of these eight fall between May 6 and May 21. The second half of May is the usual time in the southern Provinces, but in the north and Finland few eggs are laid before June. In Siberia eggs may be found till the first half of July.

RHYACOPHILUS GLAREOLA (Linnaeus)

WOOD SANDPIPER

Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain

HABITS

The only record of this species within North American limits is due to Chase Littlejohn (1904), who obtained a single specimen on May 27, 1894, on Sanak Island, Alaska.

Courtship.--Our information on this point is somewhat scanty. The song flight has of course been frequently described and observed, but the actual courtship of the female can only be observed under somewhat difficult conditions and there must be a considerable element of luck in any case where it can be closely studied. All the evidence hitherto obtained goes to show that it is carried on in much the same way as that of the common sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucos), but the song flight forms a much more conspicuous part of the proceedings. When the male alights he has a habit of elevating his wings for a moment, until, as Seebohm says, they almost meet overhead, much as Temminck’s stint also does. Apparently this forms part of the display before the hen, but the male may also be seen running by the side of the female with drooping wings. One can as a rule only get a momentary glimpse and generally at a considerable distance. The love song is, however, quite another matter. On the heaths of West Jutland one can see the males in rapid flight even from the windows of the trains, while in North Finland the loud musical leero, leero, leero, is one of the most familiar sounds in the wood-fringed marshes. John Hancock (1874), who by persevering search found the only nest which has ever been discovered in the British Isles, in June 1853, gives a very graphic account of it. He was on a visit to Prestwick Car, in Northumberland, at that time undrained, and as he says:

About 3 o’clock our dogs, a retriever and a setter, raised a bird about 50 yards in advance of us, which at once rose to a considerable height coursing about, rising and sinking somewhat in the manner of a snipe, and like it, while sweeping downwards with outstretched, tremulous wings, produced a peculiar drumming note, but one much shriller than that of the snipe, and almost amounting to a sort of musical whistle. From the strangeness of the actions and peculiar whistling or drumming note, I was convinced that we had met with a rare bird, and that its nest was near at hand. The birds were still in view flying about; our only chance now was to watch the bird to its nest. It was not long before one of the birds “pitched” and after allowing a little time for it to settle I went forth to raise it, but did not succeed. The bird, however, was soon in the air again flying about as before. The watching dodge was again tried and this time the bird was marked to, and raised from the nest. There lay the nest, with its four pretty eggs, on the side of a dry hillock where grew some heath and grass in the midst of a swampy spot.

One of the parents was subsequently shot by Mr. Reay to authenticate the identification, and the specimen is still extant. Seebohm (1884) also describes the song flight, but it is difficult to reconcile his account with the facts. According to him:

The note which the male utters during the pairing season is much more of a song than that of the grasshopper warbler, which it somewhat resembles; it is a monotonous tit-it-it, begun somewhat low and slow, as the bird is descending in the air with fluttering upraised wings, becoming louder and more rapid and reaching its climax as the bird alights on the ground or on a rail, or sometimes on the bare branch of a willow, the points of its trembling wings almost meeting over its head when its feet find support. This song is a by no means unmusical trill, and has an almost metallic ring about it.