136 BULLETIN 14G, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Erie, September 17, 1889 ; Ohio, Cincinnati, September, 1878 ; Michi- 

 gan, Kalamazoo, October 28, 1879; Illinois, Summit, August 11, 

 1872; and Wisconsin, Fox Lake, September 10, 1912. 



Casual records. — The Eskimo curlew has been taken or reported 

 from several points outside its normal range, among which are: 

 Porto Eico, once near San Juan (Gundlach) ; Bermuda, September, 

 1874; Greenland, two records (Reinhardt) ; Pribilof Islands, St. 

 Paul Island, May 26, 1872; "Bering Sea," May 22, 1874; Siberia, 

 Cape Wankarem, August 6, 1881 ; five records for Great Britain 

 (Slains, Aberdeenshire, September 28, 1878; near Stonehaven, Kin- 

 cardineshire, September 6, 1855; one on the Aide, Aldeburgh, Suf- 

 folk ; one at Woodbridge, Suffolk ; and one purchased in the flesh at 

 Dublin, October 21, 1870); and Iceland (Kjaerbolling). The sup- 

 posed occurrence of this species in southern California (San Diego 

 region and near Tia Juana) probably refers to N . hudsonicus., as 

 does also the record for the Galapagos Island,s (Charles Island) and 

 South Carolina (Charleston). 



Egg dates. — Mackenzie : 28 records, June 8 to July 12 ; 14 records, 

 June 18 to 25. 



NUMENIUS PHAEOPUS PHAEOPUS (Linnaens) 



WHIMBREL 



Contributed lij Francis Charles Robert Joiirdain 



HABITS 



The latest and best authority on the birds of Greenland, E. Lehn 

 Schioler, writes that in all probability the whimbrel breeds on the 

 southern part of the west coast of Greenland, perhaps generally in the 

 south, but more especially in the southwest. The only other Ameri- 

 can record of this species is one from south of Sable Island, Nova 

 Scotia, on May 25, 1906. 



/Spring. — The whimbrel arrives on the British coasts from about 

 mid-April to June 12, but is very frequently noted during the first 

 days of May, from which it derives one of its local names, the 

 " May bird." On migration it prefers to haunt the low-lying coa^t 

 and the adjacent country, feeding on the mud flats and marshes. 

 When on the wing they fly at a great height, but can be recognized 

 by their clear seven-syllabled whistle, tettg, tetfy, tefty, tet. 



Courtship. — Practically nothing is recorded in the standard works 

 on British ornithology on the courtship of this species, but some 

 observations have been made both in Iceland and on the Shetland^. 

 Reimschneider writes that in Iceland one hears its notes all through 

 the long summer day and far into the night, a very long-drawn hwiu, 



