Eggs.—Normally four, rarely five, but in second or third layings three are not uncommon, and cases of six, seven, and eight eggs in a nest have been recorded, probably due to two hens laying together, though in some instances they may be due to a full clutch being laid after an interruption by snow or floods. The eggs are pyriform in shape and when large series are examined, show considerable variation, the ground color ranging from creamy white, stone color, to pale greenish gray or light purplish red and warm reddish ochreous. They are freely blotched and spotted with purple brown or rich red brown and ashy shell marks; sometimes a dark hair streak at the big end. In some eggs the blotches are very large, but others are more uniformly marked with small spots. In a series they show much richer and redder coloring than Vanellus, Himantopus, or Recurvirostra, and lack the distinctive green ground of Tringa erythropus. The measurements of 36 eggs from Iceland average 45.39 by 31.75 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 49 by 32.4, 46.5 by 33.1, 42.3 by 31.3, and 43.7 by 30.5 millimeters. The measurements of 100 British eggs average 44.56 by 31.56 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 48.4 by 32.4, 46.5 by 33.1, and 41.5 by 28.5 millimeters. It would be seen from the above figures that Icelandic eggs (like the birds) are slightly larger than British specimens. The incubation period lasts 23 to 25 days and is apparently chiefly undertaken by the female, but J. Cunningham has shot the male from the eggs.
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 redshank is a shore feeder to a great extent for the autumn months and often a riverside and marsh harvester in spring and summer. In the latter season its food consists chiefly of insects and their larvae, including Coleoptera (Hyphidrus, Onthophagus, etc.), Diptera, especially Tipulidae; also the larvae of Ephemeridae and Phryganeidae, spiders, worms (Lumbrici); and it is said small frogs and berries are also taken. In autumn crustacea (including Gammaridae, shrimps, and small crabs) are taken; also Mollusca (Cardium) and smaller marine univalves and annelids in addition to insect food when procurable; and small fish have been found in the stomach by Professor Patten.
Behavior.—The restless and wary nature of this very numerous species renders it very unpopular with the shore shooters, as its loud yelping cry of Took took alarms every bird within earshot. As they are poor eating and do not pay for shooting, they frequently escape, although a good many are shot. During the breeding season it is quite a common sight to see a redshank perched on a post, or tripping lightly along a rail with upraised wings, and it will at times even settle on a tree.
Fall.—As soon as the young are able to fly (for only one brood is reared in the season) the redshanks form into family parties or small flocks and work their way down the valleys toward the shore. On the British coasts large reinforcements arrive from the continent, but it is not possible to tell whether the birds which remain throughout the winter are visitors from the north or locally bred birds. In Iceland they leave about the end of September or early in October, and on the British coasts are most numerous from mid-July to mid-November.
Winter.—The main winter quarters of this species are in Africa, but it is of scarce occurrence in the south; and also in southwestern Asia; farther east in Asia it is replaced by other races, which winter in India, the Malay Peninsula, and the islands of Malaysia.
DISTRIBUTION
Breeding range.—In Iceland and the Faeroes the breeding race is T. totanus robustus. The typical race (T. totanus totanus) breeds in suitable localities throughout the British Isles and the Continent of Europe, north to latitude 71° in Norway, rare in North Finland, and scarce in Russian Lapland, while it is absent from the islands off the North Russian coast and reaches about latitude 58° N. in the Urals and 56½° in West Siberia. Southward its range extends to Andalusia, northern Italy, Sardinia, and in small numbers to Greece, as well as at over 6,000 feet in the Caucasus. Probably it also nests in Morocco, though this has not yet been proved, and perhaps also in Tunisia, while in West Asia it breeds in Turkestan. East Asiatic birds apparently belong to another race or races.
Winter range.—The Iceland race (T. totanus robustus) passes through the British Isles and has been recorded from Morocco. The typical race (T. totanus totanus) winters in small numbers in the British Isles and also on the Scandinavian coast, but not in Central Europe, crossing the Mediterranean and wintering in Africa, where it has been recorded in Cape Province and Natal, but only in small numbers, the majority evidently wintering in the Tropics. Eastward it is found in the marshes of Iraq and the shores of the Persian Gulf, but probably Indian birds and those which winter in Ceylon, the Andamans, Malay Peninsula, China, Hainan, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Philippines, Celebes, Sunda Islands, and Japan belong to other races.
Spring migration.—The passage northward at the Straits of Gibraltar takes place in March and April, while in Tunisia most leave in April, though specimens have been obtained in June (probably non-breeders); and in Egypt it stays till April. In Abyssinia it has been met with in March (March 12, Zoulla) and most leave the marshes of Iraq in mid-May, though some stay till the end of the month. It passes Malta in March and April, and nearly all have left Greece by May, but passes Cyprus in April, arriving in Holland and Denmark in April and Sweden late in that month and reaching Finland early in May. Large numbers passed over St. Catherine's Light in the Isle of Wight from 2.30 a. m. till dawn on April 3 and 4, 1910.