BIRDS OF ICELAND 107 



inches, the female the largest, and with the longest 

 bill; wing 11 f to 12 J inches. 



Food (when on the shores) Crustacea, worms, and 

 any small creatures; inland they live on insects and 

 berries, but seem to prefer small helices to anything, 

 and eat enormous numbers of them. 



Numenius phoeopus (Linn.). Whimbrel. 



Native names: ' Spoi/ ' Litla Spoi' — from the 

 bird's note. 



A summer visitor, arriving in April and leaving in 

 September. One of the commonest birds in Iceland ; 

 one of the most invariable recollections which a visitor 

 to Iceland bears away with him is that of a Whimbrel 

 perched on the apex of a rock or boulder, screaming 

 at him. It breeds everywhere on grass}' land, or drier 

 marsh, from the high fells of the interior almost down 

 to sea-level, but is most abundant at moderate eleva- 

 tions. The nest is a small hollow, generally on a 

 hummock, but sometimes between two, and is not 

 much concealed. The four eggs (sometimes three 

 only) are olive brown, blotched and spotted with sepia 

 brown, and are generally very pyriform. Length about 

 2 J inches. There is seldom any lining to the nest. 

 I once found, lying beside a nest containing eggs, a 

 little heap of small rounded gravel about as big as 

 peas, which must have been recently brought from a 

 river-bed about a mile off, necessitating a good many 

 journeys there ; I surmised that this might have been 



