262 
grass, roots, and moss, with a lining of hair, wool, 
and feathers, is placed in a hole, under a stone, in 
a wall, &e. The eggs, five or six in number, are 
of a pale greenish blue. Two broods are reared 
in the year. On the South Downs, where they 
collect in great numbers in autumn, these birds, 
which are esteemed delicious fare, are caught with 
nooses placed between two turfs. | 
WHIMBREL. 
NUMENIUS PiHcoPUS, Penn. 
This species is common on some parts of our 
coast during its passage northward, chiefly fre- 
quenting sandy pastures. It appears again on the 
coast in autumn, and many remain along the shores 
in England all the winter. It has also been found 
breeding in Shetland. Its habits are very similar 
to those of the Curlew, but its cry is less loud and 
modulated. Its eggs, of which there are four, are 
coloured like those of the Curlew. Neither this 
species, nor the Curlew, although very extensively 
distributed, occur in America, where, however, 
there is a bird so similar to the Whimbrel as to 
have generally been confounded with it. 
