GREBN8HANK 313 



remain during the summer, when they are to be found by the lakes 

 in the interior. ... At that season it is easily discovered, for when 

 you are, perhaps, more than a quarter of a mile distant, it rises into 

 the air with clamorous cries, alarming all the birds in its neighbour- 

 hood, flies round the place of its nest, now wheeling off to a distance, 

 again advancing towards you, and at intervals alighting by the edge 

 of the lake, where it continues its cries, vibrating its body all the 

 while.' 



The nest is often placed at some distance from the water. The 

 four eggs are of a warm stone-colour, spotted with brown and 

 blotched with purplish grey. 



Whimbrel. 



Numenius phaeopus. 



Crown dark brown, with broad pale streak down the middle ; 

 upper parts like the curlew, but darker ; axillaries white barred 

 with brown. Length of female, eighteen inches. 



If it were our belief that the happiness of birds consisted in the 

 degree of interest they, as species, excite in us, it could be said that 

 the whimbrel suffers from his resemblance to the curlew. He is in 

 form and colouring a lesser curlew w r ith a less strongly marked 

 individuality; 'half-curlew' and 'jack-curlew,' his two vernacular 

 names, really imply that he is only half as attractive as the bigger 

 bird. With us he is best known as an autumn and spring visitor, 

 breeding only in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The migration 

 eastwards begins at the end of July, and the birds continue to pass 

 until September, flying rapidly and at a great height. Of the flocks 

 that alight to rest and feed on our coasts, a few birds remain through 

 the winter. The return migration begins in April, but the greatest 

 number of the migrants appear on our coasts about the beginning 

 of May. On account of their punctuality, the whimbrel is known 

 in some districts as the ' May bird.' In language and habits they 

 resemble curlews, but have shriller voices, a more rapid flight, are 

 not so excessively shy, and do not confine themselves so exclusively 

 to the sand-flats when feeding. Grass-grown saltings, low meadows, 

 and pasture -lands in the neighbourhood of the sea are visited by 

 them. The nest is placed on moors and heaths not far removed 

 from the shore. A slight hollow among the heather or coarse 



