Queries a7id Anstvers. 



297 



September 5. at 1 1 A.M. Saturn. 



5. 



9. 

 IJ. 

 13. 



AufTUsi 15. 1828. 



5 P.M. Venus. 



2 P.M. Mercury. 



6 P.M. Jupiter. 

 1 1 A.M. Mars. 



October 2. 

 4. 

 10. 

 11. 

 16. 

 30. 



at 



1 1 P.M. Saturn. 



9 P.M. Venus. 



8 P.M. Mercury. 

 1 1 A.M. Jupiter. 



8 P.M. Mars. 

 10 A.M. Saturn. 



J.M. 



157 



Art. VIII. Queries and Anstvers. 



A Call and Amiver from some kind of Bird. — Travelling through a marshy 

 district of Galloway a few evenings ago, my attention was called to a strange 

 sound in the air, resembling the bleating of a goat. The evening was 

 serene, and remarkably fine for the climate and season of the year, with 

 beautiful moonlight; but still I could see no object from which the sound 

 could proceed. It seemed first to arise from the marsh, and, rising 

 higher and higher in the air, was sometimes overhead, and on each side of 



me, and appeared to be a call and an- 

 swer from some kind of bird. It was 

 not, indeed, so sweet as I have heard 

 the song of the nightingale in the 

 south, but, associated as it was with 

 the fineness of the evening, was far 

 ,from disagreeable. On enquiry, I am 

 informed that such sounds are always 

 [heard about this season ; and that 

 ;they proceed from the male and fe- 

 ^ male birds of what is provincially called 

 the " Heather-blite." Pray what is 

 it ? — J. N. Cally Gardens, April 4. 

 1828. 



This must have been either the Curwillet (Charadrius calidris Lin,) 

 {fig.\51.\ or the W^hirabrel (5'c61opax phae'opus). (/g.l58.) The Charadrius, 

 or Plover, belongs to the Linnean order „,^^ 1 58 



of birds, Grallae, the character of which 

 is, bill subcylindric, a little obtuse; 

 tongue entire, fleshy ; legs naked above 

 the knees. Thegeneric character of Cha- 

 radrius is, bill roundish, obtuse, straight ; 

 nostrils linear; feet formed for running, 

 3-toed. The specific character of C. cali- 

 dris, the Sanderling, or Curwillet, is, bill 

 and legs black; lores (see fig. 55. b, in 

 p. 1 23.) and rump greyish ; body be- 

 neath white without spots. It inhabits 

 the sandy shores of Europe and Ame- 

 rica, and is 8 in. long. The (Sc61opax 

 belongs to the same Linnean order, and includes the different species of 

 curlew, snipe, and woodcock. The generic character is, bill roundish 

 obtuse, longer than the head ; nostrils linear ; face covered ; feet 4-toed, 

 hind toe consisting of many points. The specific character of S. phae'opus 

 ( phaios, dark, dps, face ; black beak) is, bill arched, black ; legs bluish ; 

 back with rhomboid brown spots; rump white. Inhabits Europe and Ame- 

 rica, and is 1 ft. long.— .7. M. 



Vol. I. — No. 3. x 



