SCOLOPACID.t. 



6i 



THE WHIMBREL. 



NuMENius PH-toPus (Liiina^us). 



The Whimbrel sometimes makes its appearance on our shores in 

 the early part of Ajiril, bat the main body of migrants northward 

 arrive in May, with a regularity which has procured for this species 

 the name of ' May-bird ' in Cornwall, Hants, Norfolk and other 

 counties. A small number of immature individuals remain on 

 our coasts during the summer, while by the latter part of July the 

 return passage — commencing with the young— sets in, and continues 

 through the autumn; at the latter season, however, the birds 

 usually fly very high and seldom remain for long, few being met 

 with after the end of September. None are known to breed on the 

 mainland of Scotland, but a small number nest on some of the 

 Orkneys and a good many do so on several of the Shetlands ; while 

 a pair or two inhabit North Ronay in the Outer Hebrides, and on 

 its travels — especially in spring — the bird passes through the other 

 islands of that group. In Ireland also it is most abundant on the 

 spring migration, but has never been known to breed. 



In the Faeroes and Iceland, as already mentioned, the Whimbrel 



