CURLEW SANDPIPER 235 



violet-gray shell marks. They are snipelike in character, and the 

 markings are rich and handsome, sometimes ranging to deep rufous 

 brown in color. Their small size, combined with bold type of mark- 

 ings, renders them readity recognizable. The measurements of 20 

 eggs average 36.26 by 25. GT millimeters, the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 39.6 by 25.6, 37.5 by 26.4, 33.3 by 25.3, and 36.6 

 by 25 millimeters. 



Incubation. — The bird which Popham shot from the eggs was a 

 female, but both males and females were obtained from the nests 

 by the Russian ornithologists, so that apparently the duty is shared 

 by both sexes. 



Plumages. — The molts and plumages are fully described in "A 

 Practical Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby 

 (1920), to which the reader is referred. 



Food. — On its breeding grounds the main food of this species con- 

 sists of insects. Cordeaux has found remains of Coleoptera and 

 Diptera and their larvae in stomachs. Worms are also freely taken, 

 but on migration it is a coastal species and subsists chiefly on marine 

 forms, such as the small Crustacea (Gammaridae) which are found in 

 vast numbers on the shore, minute mollusca, and vegetable matter. 



Behavior. — Even in the breeding season this species shows signs of 

 a sociable disposition, several pairs breeding frequently at no great 

 distance apart. When the young are fledged they assemble in flocks 

 before leaving for the south and during the winter months may be 

 found on the mud flats of our estuaries and flat coasts, as well as 

 occasionally on reservoirs and sewage farms inland. During the 

 breeding season it appears to be a silent bird, only a shrill alarm note, 

 wick-ivick-wick, being noted, while the shore haunting flocks keep up 

 a long twitter. 



Fall. — The migrations of this species are very extensive, reaching 

 over practically the whole of the Old World. To the British Isles 

 it is a passage migrant, arriving from the end of July to late October 

 and occasionally November. In Denmark the old birds are said to 

 arrive in August and the birds of the year in September, leaving in 

 September-October. On the shores of the Baltic it occurs commonly, 

 but seems to avoid the extreme west of Europe on its way south, 

 though passing Tangier in September and occurring in small numbers 

 in Portugal. It is also met with on passage in all the Mediterranean 

 countries, as well as north Africa and passes the Canaries on migra- 

 tion. It ranges on the west side of Africa to Gaboon, Liberia, the 

 Gold Coast, Princes Island, Loango, and south to Cape Province. 

 While on the east side it is recorded from the Nile Valley, the Red 

 Sea, Sudan, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Nyassaland, Madagascar, etc.. 

 and it occurs regularly on Mauritius. In Asia it ranges across the 



