6 14 WHIMHREL. 



takes the place of the Curlew from April or May till September, 

 and it occasionally wanders to Greenland. In Scandinavia it nests 

 on the fells and to the north of the limits of forest-growth ; but in 

 the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Russia it appears to be very 

 local, while over the greater part of Siberia m Asia we find a race 

 in which the adults have more streaks on the rump than even young 

 birds of our western form. This eastern representative, which has 

 been separated specifically as A"] variegatus of Scopoli, migrates 

 southward to New Guinea ; but our typical bird visits a con- 

 siderable portion of the Indian region, as well as Mauritius and 

 Madagascar, and in Africa is found down to Cape Colony, Its 

 wanderings e.xtend westward to the Azores, and on passage it is 

 found over Europe as far as the Mediterranean, thotigh it seldom 

 occurs far inland. Its American representative is N. hitdsonicus — 

 with rufous axillaries, which has once been obtained in the south- 

 west of Spain. 



A shallow depression in the soil serves to contain the 4 eggs, 

 which are usually laid from the latter part of May to the middle 

 of June ; they are of two shades of olive-green, blotched with 

 brown : average measurements 2 '4 by i'55 in. The Whimbrel is 

 very pugnacious at its breeding-place, and I have seen it attack the 

 Arctic Skua, while Col. Feilden has observed it driving away the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, uttering- its trilling cry, tetiy, tetty, fetty, 

 fet, as it darted to and fro with arrow-like flight. Its food con- 

 sists of small crustaceans, insects, worms, and land-shells, such as 

 Helix ericetoruiii, while it is said to be partial to bilberries, for it 

 is much more of a land-feeder than the Curlew. Owing to its 

 note, ' Titterel ' is a common name for this bird in Sussex, and in 

 the south and west VVhimbrels are often spoken of as 'the Seven 

 Whistlers,' the rippling whistle being repeated seven times. 



This species is much smaller than the Curlew, from which it 

 further differs characteristically in the markings of the head, the 

 crown being dark brown with a broad pale streak down the middle ; 

 the general hue of the upper parts is darker, though otherwise the 

 general plumage is similar ; the axillaries are white, barred with 

 brown. Length 16-18 in. ; wing about 10 in. ; the female being 

 larger than the male. The young are spotted on the back and 

 barred on the wing-coverts and secondaries with bufifish-white, a 

 remarkably checquered appearance being thus produced ; the rump 

 is more or less streaked ; the axillaries are only slightly barred, but 

 the dark transverse markings on the tail-feathers are more numerous 

 and defined than in the adults. 



