

I !!' 







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I:. 



322 



PR.ECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



grounds. TIk; nests — wliicli were fountl i'roni about June 20 to July 10 — weir ii. 

 every instance mere holes in the ground, lined witli a few decayed leaves and haviii.r 

 a thin sprinkling of hay in the centre. It was very diHitndt to detect the nest of this 

 species, as the parent bird glides off long before a near approach, and the eggs dosclv 

 resend)le the grass in their colors. This species was very numerous in the IJarrcns. 

 The female, soon after leaving her nest, usually ascends into the air in a straiglit 

 line. The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched, and when ai)pr(iached, liidi' 

 tliemselvi's in the grass, and can be found only with the greatest dithculty. iSoiuc 

 Avere already hatched by July 12. 



The eggs of tins species exhibit very great variations in size, colors, and distrilmtidii 

 of markings. In No. Ob'ii (S. I.) tlie ground is a pale greenish-ash, with large olili(|uc 

 blotches of ditferent shades of sepia, the lighter inclining to a i)urplish-slaty tint. In 

 No. 14009 (S. I.) the ground is of a deep muddy or clay-colored drab. The markings 

 are chiefly toward the larger end, where they are confluent on the apex, are of ;ni 

 umber tint varying in the dejitii of the shade. In Xo. 9432 (S. I.) the ground is a 

 deep olivaceous drab, and the markings, of a very dark sepia-color, are in the form of 

 irregular small blotches, more nunu-rous toward tlui larger end. In No. 11401 the 

 ground is a light ashy-green color, and the markings are smaller, more riumer(i\is. 

 more longitudinal, and of a much lighter shade of sepia. These eggs are of an oblong 

 oval shape, slightly pyriform, one end more rouiuled than the other, and have an 

 average length of about 2.10 inches, and a breadtli at the largest portion of l.'.K) 

 inches. 



NumeniuB phaeopus. 



THE WHIMBREL. 



Scolopax phccopus, Linn. S. X. cd. 10, I. 1758, 140 ; cd. 12, I. ]76(i, 243. 



Nitmniius phaopKs, Lath. Iiid. Oiii. II. U'.'O, 711. — Xaum. Viig. Deutsclil. VTII. 183t>, 50ti. - 



Kkvs. & Hi.As. Will). Kur. 78.— r.oNAi'. Comp. List, 1838, 49. — Macoim.. Man. II. 7S. — 



GriAV, tleii. B. III. 560; Cat. Hrit. IJ. 1863, 1,')4. — Duksskii, Birds Eur. XVII. Apl. 1873, pi. 



— RiDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. .5(51. -Coue.s, Check Lis.t, 2d ed. 1882, no. 644. 

 Numaiiiis minor, LKAcn, .Syst. (^at. 1816, 32. 

 Nwncniits islandiciis, Biiehm, Viij;. Doutsclil. 610. 

 ScoloiMX bomiUs, (Imki,. S. X. I. 1788, 6")4 (not of Forster, 1772 !). 

 Phixopus arquatus, SxKi'n. Gen. Zool. .\1I. 36. 

 Whimlrcl, Pknx. Brit. Zool. II. 1812, 36, pi. 9. — Yahk. Brit. B. ed. 2, II. 583, fig. ; ed. 3, II. tilii, 



fig. ; et Aucr. 



Hab. Palaearctic Re'jion, occasionally visiting Greenland (of. Reinhardt, *' Ibis," 1861, p. 10). 



Sp. Char. Adult : Crown siuiflf-browu or sooty-brown, divided longitudinally by a medial 



stripe of pale buff ; a dark stripe on side of head, from bill to luid behind eye, wiili n distinct liglit 



