Class II. WHIMBREL CURLEW. 87 



bill is two inches three quarters long, dusky 



above, red below ; the feathers on the head and 



neck are brown tinged with red, marked in the 



middle with an oblong black spot ; the cheeks 



are of a paler color ; the upper part of the back, 



the coverts of the wings, the scapulars, and the 



farthest quil feathers, are of the same color 



with the neck, but the black spots spread out 



transversely on each web ; the quil feathers are 



dusky, their shafts white, and their exterior 



webs marked A\ith large semicircular white 



spots. The breast, belly, and lower part of 



the back, are white ; the coverts of the tail, and 



the tail itself, are of a very pale whitish brown, , 



crossed with black bars. The legs and feet are 



of a dull green, and formed like those of the 



curlew. 



I received a specimen from Invercauld, shot 

 on the Grampian Hills, whose length was six- 

 teen inches ; that of the bill two ; the head round, 

 black on the top, divided lengthways by a white 

 line ; the chin white ; the cheeks, neck, breast, 



weighs fourteen ounces, that its length is seventeen, and its 

 breadth twenty-nine inches ; and that it is seen on the Kentish 

 coast from the 15ih oi April to the first week in May. It is also 

 frequently observed in Gloucestershire, on the lower parts of the 

 Severn, about the same period. Is common on the continent ; 

 and in Spain is brought to market in autumn with the curlew^ 

 and sometimes in greater abundance. Ed. 



