78 TRINGIXJE. NUMEN1US. 



Male, 23, 38, 5, 12, 5, 3 T V, If, T V Female, 25, 42. 



This species is generally distributed in Britain, and com- 

 mon in most districts. It retires to the interior to breed, 

 forming a slight nest, and laying four very large eggs, three 

 inches long, an inch and ten-twelfths in breadth, light olive 

 or dull yellowish-brown, or pale greenish-grey, blotched and 

 spotted with umber-brown. During the rest of the year it 

 chiefly frequents the sea-shore. It feeds on worms, larvse, mol- 

 lusca, and Crustacea, and may be seen probing the mud and sand 

 with its long bill, although it also picks up an object from 

 the surface. It is very shy and vigilant, alarming other birds 

 by its reiterated loud cries, runs with speed, and has a strong 

 and rapid flight. It emits various cries, often curiously mo- 

 dulated. Being in some request as food, it is often seen in 

 the markets. 



Whaup. Stock Whaup. Whitterick. 



Scolopax Arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 242. Nuinenius 

 Arquata, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 710. Numenius Arquata, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 603. Numenius Arquata, Great 

 Curlew, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



189. NUMENIUS PH^EOPUS. WHIMBREL CURLEW. 



Length from sixteen to nineteen inches ; bill little more 

 than three inches ; upper part of the head dark brown, with 

 a medial and two lateral whitish bands, streaked with dusky ; 

 neck all round pale brownish-grey, streaked with brown ; 

 feathers of the fore part of the back, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts dusky, with marginal whitish spots ; hind part of back 

 white, tail and coverts greyish-white barred with dusky ; 

 chin, hind part of breast, and abdomen white ; fore part of 

 breast streaked, sides and low r er wing-coverts barred with 

 dusky. The female is much larger, with the bill proportion- 

 ally longer. 



Male, 17, 30, 9|, 3 T 2 ^, 2 T \ ; 1 7 4 5 , T T . Female, 19, 33. 



Common on some parts of the coast during its passage 

 northward, chiefly frequenting sandy pastures. It has been 

 found breeding in Shetland. The eggs are four, two inches 

 and a half in length, an inch and two-thirds in breadth, pyri- 

 form, and coloured like those of the Great Curlew. It ap- 

 pears again on the coast in autumn, and many remain along 

 the shores, in England, all winter. Its habits are very simi- 

 lar to those of the last species, but its cry is less loud and 

 more modulated. Neither this nor the Great Curlew, although 

 very extensively distributed, occur in America, where, how- 



