538 SANDPIPERS AND RELATED SPECIES 



the meadows, in flocks but paired, in the middle of May. They 

 separated and betook themselves to the breeding-grounds soon after 

 the 16th, and the first nest with eggs was found on the 25th of May. 1 

 The whimbrel closely resembles the curlew in its nesting-habits. The 

 male generally stands on guard near the nest, and the female, when 

 warned of danger, slips stealthily from the nest, but does not run 

 far before taking wing. But like the curlew she may occasionally sit 

 close, for Mr. T. E. Buckley, describing a pair of whimbrel observed 

 on Hascosay in the Shetlands on June 9, 1890, stated that the 

 female was a close sitter. Both birds were noisy at the nest. 2 In 

 this respect it differs from the curlew, which species is quiet until 

 the young are hatched. Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley found 

 the whimbrel tamer at the nest than the curlew. The old birds, with 

 their heads lowered and held on a level with their bodies, ran within 

 a few yards of them, repeatedly uttering the regular "whimbrel 

 note." 3 



The young of both species are, when strong enough, conducted 

 to the nearest marshes and later to the coast. The whimbrel is very 

 partial to marshy pastures near the sea, and is always considerably 

 less of a marine feeder than the curlew. Both species probe in the 

 soft mud and sand. Although much of their food is obtained in this 

 way, for which their long sensitive bills are specially adapted, yet they 

 can readily pick insects and other small creatures from the surface of 

 the ground and from water. 



All Waders that frequent the seashore seem to know instinc- 

 tively when the tide is on the ebb. They may be preening their 

 feathers, or standing lazily on one leg on their accustomed resting- 

 places, but when the ebb begins to lay bare the sand and mud they 

 grow restless. At first two or three fly up followed by others, until 

 all are up and on their way to the water's-edge. In none is this 

 instinct more highly developed than in the curlew. It lingers longer 



1 Zoologist, 1866, p. 3248. 2 Fauna of Shetland, p. 176. 



3 Fauna of Orkney, p. 224. 



