366 CHARADRIIDA 
Beak. Brownish, darker towards the point; slender 
and decurved. 
Freer. Dark greyish-green. 
Tres. Blackish-brown. 
AYERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... ... 23 in. Female larger. 
WING aoe we sola 
BEAK = ye Coc PaO 
(Extremes, from 4 in. to 7 in.). 
TARSO-METATARSUS ie 4-1. 
Hee se ee ee 27x 9am 
Allied Species and Representative Forms.—The Western 
Asiatic race mentioned above is not a true species, but 
shows more white on the lower back and axillaries than 
the Kuropean bird. 
N. cyanopus, with the lower back and upper tail-coverts 
broadly barred, is the true’ Eastern species; it visits Aus- 
tralia in winter. 
N. longirostris, with the axillaries reddish, is the 
American representative ; it is larger than our Curlew. 
N. tenwirostris, a smaller species, chiefly inhabits 
Southern Kurope. 
WHIMBREL. § Nuwimenius pheopus (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, pl. 49; 
Dresser, ‘Birds of Europe,’ vol. viii, pl. 576; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. v, pl. 58. 
The regularity with which this species appears along 
our shores early in the month of May has gained for it the 
popular name of ‘May-bird.. The Whimbrel, like most 
other ‘waders, is a bird of double passage. It is most 
abundant in our Isles when migrating northward in spring, 
distributing itself widely along low-lying as well as rocky 
parts of the coasts ; 1t also occurs in considerable numbers 
on remote islands and on inland bogs. In several locali- 
ties immature birds remain on our coasts throughout the 
