322 



PR^COCIAL GRALLATOEES — LIMICOL^. 



grounds. The uests — wliicli were found from about June 20 to July 10 — were in 

 every instance mere holes in the ground, lined with a few decayed leaves and having 

 a thin sprinkling of hay in the centre. It was very difficult to detect the nest of this 

 species, as the parent bird glides off long before a near aj^proach, and the eggs closely 

 resemble the grass in their colors. This species was very numerous in the Barrens. 

 The female, soon after leaving her nest, usually ascends into the air in a straight 

 line. The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched, and when approached, hide 

 themselves in the grass, and can be found only with the greatest difficulty. Some 

 were already hatched by July 12. 



The eggs of this species exhibit very great variations in size, colors, and distribution 

 of markings. In No. 9431 (S. I.) the ground is a pale greenish-ash, with large oblique 

 blotches of different shades of sepia, the lighter inclining to a purplish-slaty tint. In 

 No. 140i)9 (S. I.) the ground is of a deep muddy or clay-colored drab. The markings 

 are chieliy toward the larger end, where they are confluent on the apex, are of an 

 umber tint varying in the depth of the shade. In No. 9432 (S. I.) the ground is a 

 deep olivaceous drab, and the markings, of a very dark sepia-color, are in the form of 

 irregular small l)lotches, more numerous toward the larger end. In No. 11401 the 

 ground is a light ashy-green color, and the markings are smaller, more numerous, 

 more longitudinal, and of a much lighter shade of sepia. These eggs are of an oblong 

 oval shape, slightly pyriform, one end more roiuided than the other, and have an 

 average length of about 2.10 inches, and a breadth at the largest portion of 1.90 

 inches. 



Numenius phaeopiis. 



THE WHIMBREL. 



Scolopax 'phceopus, Linx. S. N. ed. 10, 1. 1758, 146 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 243. 



Nunwniui phceojms, Lath. liid. Orn. II. 17itO, 711. — Naum. Vcig. Deutsclil. VIII. 1836, 506.— 



Keys. & Blas. AVirb. Eur. 78.— Boxap. Comp. List, 1838, 49. — Macgilu Man. II. 78.— 



GiiAY, Gen. B. III. 560; Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 154. — Dise.sser, Birds Eur. XVII. Apl. 1873, pi. 



— RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 561. — CouE,s, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 644. 

 Numenius minor. Leach, Sy.st. Cat. 1816, 32. 

 Numenius islandicus, Breiim, Viig. Deutsclil. 610. 

 Scolopax borealis, Giiel. S. N. I. 1788, 654 (not of Forster, 1772 !). 

 Phoeopus arquatus, Steph. Gen. Zool. XII. 36. 

 Whimhrel, Pexx. Brit. Zool. II. 1812, 36, pi. 9. — Yarr. Brit. B. ed. 2, II. 583, fig. ; ed. 3, II. 616, 



tig. ; et AucT. 



Hab. Palsearctic Rej,non, occasionally visiting Greenland (cf. Reinhardt, " Ibis," 1861, p. 10). 



Sp. Char. Adult : Crown snuff-brown or sooty-brown, divided longitudinally by a medial 



stripe of pale buff ; a dark stripe on side of head, from bill to and behind eye, with a distinct light 



