34 THE ANIMAL LIFE OF SIBERIA 



Germany is very rare. In winter it has been seen in south-east Africa. In shape 

 and colouring this species is a miniature of the curlew, which it resembles also 

 in voice and habits. Thunderstorms do not alarm the whimbrel, which is 

 most active when the weather is about to change, so that it is regarded as a 

 weather-prophet by the peasants of many countries. Its clear, flute-like calls are 

 shriller than those of the curlew, but are otherwise very similar. If these be 

 well imitated, the whimbrel may be lured within shooting-distance, as it readily 

 follows the calls of its fellows, towards which it is socially disposed, although it 

 does not seek the society of other birds. The whimbrel is 15 inches in 

 length, the colour of its plumage being principally dark brown streaked with 



black. 



Among: a host of other waders visiting Siberia in the breeding- 

 other Waders 



season, the spotted redshank and the greenshank (Totanus canescens) 



frequent flat shores, and seek their food in still, shallow waters. Although the 

 latter bird is frequently seen during migration on the muddy shallows of the coast, 

 it prefers fresh waters, avoiding those surrounded by trees and bushes, but liking 

 to wade among aquatic plants. Never resorting to covert, if it cannot escape by 

 flight from birds-of-prey, it will lie flat down on the ground, or even on the water. 

 Sometimes it will dive, and will continue to do so until the enemy retires. The 

 greenshank feeds on small fish and insects, and closely resembles a sandpiper 

 in general habits, gait, and flight. Its breeding-area is northern Siberia as far 

 east as the Stanovoi Mountains ; and on the autumn migration it travels as far 

 south as Cape Colony. During autumn and spring it visits all parts of Europe, 

 either on its outward or homeward journey, as it does not appear to return by the 

 same route as the one by which it went. In length it measures some 13 inches. 

 It is ashy brown above, mottled with white, and white below, the lower part of 

 the back and tail being also white, while the wings are grey beneath and the legs 

 olive-green. Like the greenshank, the spotted redshank ranges from the tundra 

 to the south. The sandpiper, the redshank, the green sandpiper, and the wood- 

 sandpiper are thorough Siberian birds, as is also the ruff. 



In addition to the little stint, Temminck's stint, the knot, and the purple 

 sandpiper, there are two other Siberian species indigenous to northern Europe, 

 namely, the curlew-sandpiper and the dunlin. 



The former (Tringa subarquata), whose home is in upper Sweden, Esthonia, 

 Finland, Russia, and Siberia, migrates to the countries on the North Sea and the 

 Baltic, the shores of the Mediterranean, the African coast down to the Cape of 

 Good Hope, India, and even Australia. It appears in flocks of hundreds on the 

 coasts of Holland and France, and visits the German and Swiss lakes. The 

 1,1,11,1111 migration begins at the end of July and ends in the middle of October. 

 On the spring migration in April and May the curlew-sandpiper appears much 

 Leas frequently along the German route. By no means timid in disposition, this 

 bird returns to its favourite haunts even when driven away, and prefers muddy 

 flats and shingly beaches to the banks of rivers and brooks. It breeds on the 

 lower Yenesei, where its nest and eggs were found in 1897. In length this sand- 

 piper measures about 7 inches. The beak is slightly bent at the tip. The tail is 

 grey, the rest of the plumage, save for the white tail-coverts, being very similar 



