THE GREENSHANK. By Desmond Nethersole-Thompson. New Naturalist Monograph No. 5.

1951 1st edition. Small 8vo (145 x 205mm). Ppxii,244. Colour colour and b/w plates, maps, bibliography. Green buckram, spine titled in gilt.

" With 4 colour photographs by John Markham and F.C. Pickering, 42 black-and-white photographs and 12 maps and diagrams". Desmond Nethersole-Thompson's study of the ecology and biology of the greenshank, particularly in his native area, the Scottish Highlands. His 1979 Poyser publication, Greenshanks, is essentially a revised and expanded new edition of this book based on a further three decades of research. Chapters include: Early beginnings; The story of the greenshank; Distribution, movements and relations; Greenshanks in Britain; The greenshank's world; Enemies and food; Population density; Individuals and their territories; Nest-hunting; Voice; Courtship; Triangles; Living-space; Nest and nest-choice; Egg-laying, the egg and the clutch; Brooding; The crisis of hatching; Baby greenshanks; Psychology and emotion. Appendices include:- List of forests in which greenshanks have been found during the breeding season; Venacular names of the greenshank; A musical appreciation of the calls of the greenshank, by M.E.W. North; Egg-laying notes and observations; Brooding diaries and observations; Egg-shell disposal and hatching behaviour. New Naturalist Monograph No. 5.