98 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
certainly gregarious, but its gatherings are never 
so large on our coasts as those of the Curlew. 
This, however, is entirely due to local causes, for 
Gatke reports that on the bright warm days of 
April and May they pass over Heligoland in 
successive flocks, at a vast height, and flying at 
a tremendous speed. On migration the note of 
the Whimbrel may be described as a shrill 
hee-hee-hee. Its food, during its sojourn in small 
numbers on the British coasts, consists principally 
of crustaceans, sand-worms, and molluscs. 
The Whimbrel is a later breeder than the Curlew. 
During the nesting season it is one of the most 
local of our birds, and is only known to nest on 
North Ronay—one of the Hebrides—the Orkneys, 
and the Shetlands. Its favourite breeding-grounds 
are the wild moors, at no great distance from the 
sea. Although not gregarious during summer, 
many pairs often nest on the same portion of 
the moors. The nest is made upon the ground, 
sometimes amongst heather, or beneath the shelter 
of a tuft of grass, and consists of a few bits of 
withered herbage, arranged carelessly in some slight 
hollow. The four eggs are very like those of the 
Curlew, but are much smaller. The bird’s actions 
at the nest are very similar to those of the preceding 
species. Outside the British limits, the breeding 
range of the typical Whimbrel reaches from Iceland 
and the Farées, across Arctic Europe, whilst its 
winter home is in Africa. 
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