THE CURLEWS. 325 



but more especially on the sand-spit above mentioned. Havirg 

 ascertained that this point of the " Dobbin" was their favourite 

 resting-place at night-time, he double-shotted his great Bir- 

 mingham gun, and tied a string to the trigger, the charge 

 being too heavy to fire from the shoulder. He directed the point 

 of the muzzle on to the end of the sand-spit and covered the 

 single barrel of the gun with a huge heap of stones ; then, in 

 the dark, judging the time when the Whimbrel would congre- 

 gate, he crossed a mile of mud-flats, forded the creek, and 

 crept up towards the unsuspecting birds. By dint of crawling 

 over the shingle of the " Dobbin" he gained possession of the 

 string attached to the gun ; listening for the " tittering " of the 

 Whimbrel to announce their nightly assemblage. When the 

 whistling notes of the birds had assured him that a goodly 

 number were present, he discharged his gun. It did not burst, 

 as he had fully expected, but, as a reward of his enterprise, he 

 picked up twenty-one Whimbrel. 



On the spring migration I have found the Whimbrel much 

 more easy to procure. They are then generally met with 

 singly, and I have obtained several birds in full breeding 

 plumage on the saltings of Romney Hoy, where by a careful 

 stalk they could be approached within distance. Although in 

 many respects resembling the Curlew, there are many points of 

 difference in the habits of the two birds, and I have never seen 

 the Whimbrel distributed singly over the mud-flats as is often 

 the case with the Curlew, nor is their call-note so often heard. 

 Curlew likewise do not go in close flocks like the Whimbrel. 



Nest. Seebohm writes: "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." 



Eggs. Four in number, laid at the end of May, pyriform in 

 shape, and resembling those of the Curlew, but smaller. 

 Axis, 2-05-2-45 inches; diam., 1-6-175. 



