FOR CAGES AND A VIARIlES. 33 



The Stone Curlew. See Thick-Knee. 



The Whimbrel. 



Very much like the Curlew, but is not much more than 

 half its size, for which reason its popular name of Little 

 Curlew is not at all inappropriate. It breeds in the north, 

 but spends the winter here. It is a noisy and restless 

 bird, nesting among ling and heather on moors. The eggs 

 are four in number, of a dark greenish-brown colour 

 spotted with still darker brown. The young run about 

 almost directly upon making their appearance from the 

 shell. The legs and feet are of a darker colour than those 

 of the Curlews, but the plumage of both species is very 

 similar. 



^^^'^ 



WllTMBREL. 



The Whimbrel feeds on aquatic insects, worms and 

 small molluscs, which it probes for in the sand and mud 

 with its long bill : in the young this organ is at first 

 extremely short, and it does not attain its adult length of 

 3! inches for more than a year. 



