WHIMBREL. 1 01 



coast. On November lo, 1887, a flock of fifteen 

 was seen in a turnip-field at Houghton. 



WHIMBREL. Numenius pliwoims, (L.) 



YarrelJ, iii. p, 507; Hading, p. 53- Dresser, viii. p. 2273 

 Seebohm, iii. p. 100; Ibis Lii>i, p. 179; Scolopax pliaeopus, 

 PiiJteney's List, p. 14. 



The Whimbrel is a spring and autumn visitant. 

 It is smaller in size than the Curlew, Avhich it other- 

 wise resembles, and on close inspection it may be 

 further distinguished by the two dark bars on the 

 head, which in the Curlew are absent. This bird 

 appears to have benefited by the Wild Birds Pro- 

 tection Act, which prohibits shooting during the 

 spring migration, and of late years it has appeared 

 in increased numbers. It arrives during the last 

 week of April, and becomes more and more nume- 

 rous till the second week of May, when it leaves for 

 its nesting haunts. At this time of the year Mr. 

 Pike has seen as many as two hundred collected on 

 the sandy shores of Littlesea. After the breeding 

 season, namely, about the end of August or begin- 

 ning of September, it reappears on the coast, and 

 young as well as old birds may then be found in 

 some numbers on the mud-flats. The local name 

 for this bird is " Chickerel." Early in June 1882 

 a small flock appeared at Winterbourne Kingston. 

 Two were shot at Poole in the spring of 1884 ; one at 

 Swyre in the spring of 1885 ; one seen on the AVare- 

 ham river, August 15, 1885 ; and four in a turnip- 

 field on North Hill, Steplc, Purbeck, May 6, 1887. 



