Identifier: birdstheirnestse00vosg (find matches)
Title: Birds and their nests and eggs : found in and near great towns
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Vos, George Herklots
Subjects: Birds Birds Birds
Publisher: London : G. Routledge New York : E.P. Dutton.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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ellowish stone colour, spotted greyand dark brown. The birds are found roundour coasts in various parts. They congregatein small flocks in autumn and winter. Whenonce seen and heard they are not easily for-gotten. The birds are resident in this coun-try. I had seen many redshanks here in theearly part of the year. Their habits too aremuch the same as those of the peewit (seePart I, Plate XLIII), and oyster-catcher,and the nest is similar. The redshank, which isjust under a foot long, has red legs (whencename). The upper plumage is brown and theunder parts white. Four eggs are laid veryearly in spring (April) of a yellowish-greycolour spotted and marked with purplishbrown. They nest even before the peewits,but do not come u)), I think, so far inland tonest as thev do. They reside in Great Bri- IN THE NORTH OF KENT tain. As we looked on to the flats we couldsee the great grey forms of a couple of heronsa quarter of a mile away, feeding. Theyflew up as soon as we stopped to look at them,
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XVIII : A pair (A redshanks (J size). even though we were so far off. I fancyeven now I can hear their quawck as theydid so. I have stated in Part II that I did not knowhow to distinguish the flight of the carrion io6 A LONG DAY WITH THE BIRDS crow from that of the rook. As the crowflies implies a direct line, and I saw somesolitary crows that looked like carrion crowsillustrating this on the marshes. Their flightwas straight and low. The rooks is as a rulehigh, and certainly not a bee line. Afriend of mine who lives near here says hecan always tell the carrion crow by thisflight. To illustrate the boldness and ferocityof these birds, he told me he had come oneday suddenly upon one which was feeding onthe carcass of a dead sheep. As my friendapproached, the bird was very loth to leaveit, and did not do so till he was threatenedwith a stick, and even then he moved awayonly a few feet, and raised his wings and kor -ed savagely the while—returning tohis feast as soon as my friend turne

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