IVHIMBREL. 27S 



species breeds elsewhere in the Hebrides ; I saw it on 

 St. Kilda during June. 



Breeding habits : The Whimbrel is a summer 

 migrant to the British Islands, reaching our shores in 

 small numbers in April, but passing over them much 

 more abundantly in May. Its favourite breeding- 

 grounds are the wild, elevated moorlands at no great 

 distance from the sea. The bird probably pairs each 

 season, although I may remark that the information on 

 this point is very unsatisfactory. It is not a gregarious 

 species, but numbers of pairs often nest in a small area, 

 just like the Curlew. The nest is always placed on the 

 ground amongst heath, or beneath the shelter of a tuft 

 of grass in a dry part of the swampy moor. It is 

 merely a hollow, scantily lined with a few bits of 

 withered herbage or dead leaves. The actions of the 

 Whimbrel at the breeding-grounds are very similar to 

 those of the Curlew, and the notes of both species are 

 much the same. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement: 

 The eggs of the Whimbrel are four in number, and 

 pyriform in shape. They very closely resemble those 

 of the Curlew in general appearance, and run through 

 pretty much the same range of variation. They vary 

 from olive-green to buff in ground colour, blotched and 

 spotted with olive-brown and reddish-brown, and with 

 underlying markings of pale gray. On some eggs the 

 spots are mostly distributed in a zone round the larger 

 end ; on others they are evenly dispersed. Average 

 measurement, 2-3 inches in length, by 16 inch in 

 breadth. The period of incubation appears to be 

 unknown, but is probably the same as that of the 

 Curlew, and is performed chiefly by the female. 



Diagnostic characters : The small size readily dis- 

 tinguishes the eggs of the Whimbrel from those of the 



