WHIMBREL. 177 



seven times in succession it is called the " Seven Whistler" ; 

 seven, however is a mystic number. Though passing inland, 

 the bird less frequently halts to feed on fresh-water pools than 

 the Curlew; it appears to hurry to reach the coast. Return 

 migration begins in July and continues until October, very few 

 lingering until November ; from December onward the bird is 

 very rare. I have only once met with the Whimbrel in winter, 

 on the Solway on the last day of the year. When traveUing, 

 small flocks of Whimbrel often adopt the line or V-shaped 

 formation ; the flight is steady and straight, but the wing-beats 

 quicker than those of the heavier bird. Low rocky shores are 

 as much frequented as mud-flats ; the brown bird, often almost 

 invisible on the tangle, feels with its bill amongst the weed for 

 molluscs and crustaceans, or hunts in the rock pools for 

 prawns, gobies, or butterfish ; I have watched it testing the 

 size of crabs, swallowing the small ones and reluctantly throw- 

 ing aside those which were too large. On the flats it eats 

 the usual marine creatures, and inland adds berries to its diet 

 of worms, land snails, and insects ; " leather-jackets " have been 

 found in its stomach. The bird is by no means shy ; when 

 the wary Curlew warns other waders, the Whimbrel will 

 continue its meal unmoved. 



The nest is a slight hollow in the moss or amongst rough 

 grasses, lined with a few bents or bits of moss. The three or 

 four eggs, similar to small eggs of the Curlew, are not usually 

 laid until June. At the nest the alarm note resembles that of 

 the commoner species, and the Whimbrel is just as plucky 

 in its assaults upon possible foes. The nestling plumage closely 

 resembles that of the Curlew, but the head shows in its streaks 

 some suggestion of the later character. 



The adult plumage, with the exception of the crown, is little 

 different from that of the Curlew ; the female, as in the last 

 species, is the larger bird. The young show both blacker and 

 buffer mottlings than those of the old bird. The bill is brown. 



Series II, N 



