103 BRITISH BIRDS. 



to haunt the marshy pastures near the sea, and run round the pools which 

 have been left in them by the tide, often wading through the shallows for 

 a considerable distance. Mr. Cordeaux remarks that they are very fond 

 of bathing, splashing the water over their bodies as they stand breast-deep 

 in the tide, and then standing fanning their wings and drying their plumage. 

 They have occasionally been observed to swim. The food of the Whim- 

 brel, whilst the bird stays on our coasts, consists of sand- worms, insects 

 and their larvae, beetles, and small marine animals, especially crustaceans. 

 It is also very fond of small land-shells, which it picks up from the 

 pastures, and in summer it is said to eat moor fruits and berries. 



The favourite breeding-grounds of the Whimbrel are the moors and 

 heaths in close proximity to the sea. When the vicinity of their nest is 

 intruded upon the Whimbrels fly into the air and circle round and round. 

 The nest is very slight, a little hollow amongst the heath, or under the 

 shelter of a tuft of coarse grass, in a dry part of the swamp, and is lined 

 with a few scraps of dry herbage. The eggs are usually laid at the end of 

 May, and from that date they may be obtained until the end of June. 

 They are four in number when the full complement is laid, and are very 

 similar to those of the Curlew. They are olive-green of different shades 

 or pale brownish buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive- 

 brown or reddish brown, and with grey underlying markings. On some 

 eggs most of the spots take the form of an irregular zone round the large 

 end, on others they are evenly distributed over the entire surface ; whilst 

 some are only sparingly marked with large blotches and tiny specks. 

 They vary in length from 2*5 to 2'2 inch, and in breadth from 1'75 to 

 1'6 inch. In actual bulk the eggs of the Whimbrel are always smaller 

 than those of the Curlew. It is almost impossible to distinguish certain 

 eggs of the Whimbrel from some eggs of Richardson's Skua ; but as a rule 

 those of the latter bird are smaller and not so pointed at the small end. 

 The Whimbrel only rears one brood in the year. Captain Feilden, who 

 obtained many nests of this bird on the Faroes, says that it is very 

 pugnacious in the breeding- season, and is ever ready to beat off intruding 

 birds from its particular haunt. He watched them repeatedly chasing the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull in arrow-like flight from the vicinity of their 

 nests, all the time keeping up incessant cries. At their breeding-grounds 

 they occasionally perch on trees and stakes. The call-note of the Whimbrel 

 and its note of alarm at the nest are so similar to those of the Curlew that 

 they do not require repetition, but they are not quite so loud and are in 

 a somewhat higher key. 



As soon as the young can fly the southward migration begins, the 

 young birds migrating before their parents. These autumn flights of 

 Whimbrels often take a different route towards the south from that taken 

 in spring, and it has been observed in many localities that the flocks are 



