140 OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 



WHIMBREL 



I AM sorry to say that I harbour a grave suspicion 

 that this bird neither breeds so plentifully, nor in 

 so many parts of the north of Britain, as it is 

 supposed to do by many naturalists. Being a 

 migrant, its numbers no doubt vary considerably 

 from season to season, and I wish I could say so 

 much for its enemies in certain quarters. 



Mr. J. E. Gunn, of Kirkwall, tells me that it 

 is " by no means plentiful " in the Orkneys. I 

 have met with it in the Outer Hebrides, and at 

 St, Kilda in the middle of June, but under cir- 

 cumstances which left no doubt whatever that it 

 was not there on breeding intent. 



In the summer of 1898 my brother and I 

 visited an island in the Shetlands which is con- 

 sidered, I believe, to be the ancient stronghold 

 of the members of the species breeding in this 

 country. Although we certainly saw two or three 

 pairs of birds, we had no reason to suppose any 

 of them, had eggs from their behaviour, with a 

 single exception ; and after a considerable amount 

 of trouble we succeeded in finding and photograph- 

 ing theirs, which are figured on the opposite page. 

 We were told that a number of pairs breed on 

 the mainland, but if such is really the case, 

 I am truly sorry for their chances of taking any 

 young off, considering the vigilance of the lynx- 

 eyed egg - eating natives, of whose collecting 

 capacity I had some proof. 



The Whimbrel, although in general appearance 

 similar to the Common Curlew, is considerably 

 smaller, and its note varies sufficiently to at once 

 arrest the ear of the practised ornithologist. 

 The nest is very similar to that of its congener 



