o54 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



of Somerset,' p. ;390). A pair were shot on the Exe estuary, March 2ncl, ]8fi4 (J. C. 

 Tyrwhitt- Drake). Two oi-curred there in May 1807 (W. Taylor), and one in October 

 ]s70. One was shot on ThurlestoTie Ley. September 14th, 1877 (H. N.). A female, 

 apparently in an exhausted state, was killed in the meadows at Preston, some distance 

 from the Kiugsbridge estuary, August ISth, 1S89 ; and in May 1890 one was shot at 

 Bearscombe pond (E. A. S. E., MS. Notes). There is a specimen in breeding-plumage, 

 killed near Kingsbridge, in the coUectiou of the lale Mr. J. Elhot. 



In Cornwall and al.so in Dorset this Godwit is a rare straggler, but few 

 being mentioned in the account of the birds of those counties, and in 

 Somerset the only specimen which came into the hands of Mr. Cecil 

 Smith was a young bird of the year purchased from a poulterer, who had 

 received it from the neighbourhood of Bridgwater. 



Whimbrel, Xumenms phceojjus (Linn.). 



[Cuckoo Curlew (on the Exe), Stone Curlew, Half Curlew, Jack 

 Curlew (iV. D.), May-bird.] 



A passing visitor in spring and autumn, arriving in April and May. 

 After a short stay with us in spring it leaves for its breeding-places, re- 

 turning in July and August, and remains until the end of September, 

 frequenting the mud-flats in the estuaries of our larger rivers. Some 

 occasionally remain till late in the winter. Probably owing to this late 

 stay both Moore and Turton considered it a winter visitor. One was 

 killed out of a flock at Instow, Iv'orth Devon, in January 1808 (G. F. M., 

 Zool. 1808, p. 1135). 



Whimbrcls are usually seen in small parties, but sometimes large flocks 

 are met with. They are rather tame on their first arrival in spring. We 

 see some every year about the first week in May on the sea-beach at 

 Exmouth. 



The Whimbrel is a weU-known and common bird upon our North Devon 

 estuaries, where it arrives regularly at the beginning of May, and, after 

 spending about a fortnight with us, proceeds on its journey to its breeding- 

 haunts in the far north. It is seen again on its return south in the 

 autumn, but it is never so numerous on the Xorth Devon rivers at that 

 season of the year as it is in the spring. Some autumns would pass 

 without a single young Whimbrel having appeared on the sands of the Barn- 

 staple river. The Whimbrel is a very tame and confiding bird, and when it 

 is running upon the shingle it will squat and trust to its plumage harmo- 

 nizing in its grey tints with its surroundings to conceal it from observa- 

 tion, and we have frequently been startled by almost treading upen one 

 which has either run away or risen reluctantly on wing from beneath our 

 feet. Owing to the Sea Birds' Preservation Act the tameness of the Whim- 

 brel has greatly increased, and we have been told by a boatman at Instow 

 that in May they may be seen running along on the mad passing through 

 that little watering-place " like chickens." The Whimbrel is honoured 

 by many local names. The Xorth Devon shore-shooters call it the Half 

 Curlew or Jack Curlew ; we have also heard it called the Seven Whistlers 



