SCOLOPACID^. 355 



and the Titterel, in allusion to its musical piping notes ; in some parts of 

 the West of Englaud it is called the Cuckoo (!) ; and we once saw a friend, 

 who lived near Honiton, point out with his whip a Whimbrel which Avas 

 feeding on a meadow by the sea-side, as he drove along the road, and 

 heard him saj', " It is not often you see a Cuckoo so close as that." 

 Around Bridgwater Mr. Goldsmith (Zool. ISSS, p. 67) states that the 

 "W'himbrel is known as the " Cowslip bird ;" that it is seen on the neigh- 

 bouring moors for about three weeks in May, and is supposed to vary in 

 its numbers according as it is a good or a bad cowslip year ! 



There is no record of the Whimbrel ever having nested in the south of 

 the kingdom, but one which started up from the heather in front of us, 

 on the top of Skomer Island, off the S.W. coast of Pembrokeshire, and 

 ran off slowly trailing her wings, on the last day of May, looked very 

 much like a breeding bird. Unfortunately at the moment we were in 

 keen pursuit of something else, and when we returned to search for our 

 Whimbrel's nest (?) had lost count of the precise spot. 



The Whimbrel is, evidently, one of those birds whose passage south in 

 the autumn is chiefly by a different route from the one followed northwards 

 in the spring. 



Curlew. Niimenias arqiiata (Linn.). 

 [WTiistling Curlew.] 



Eesident, some breeding on Dartmoor, also in many places on the 

 rough high ground in the north-east and north-west of North Devon, and 

 on the higher hills of Exmoor. Small flocks may be seen feeding on the 

 mud-flats in the estuaries of the larger rivers at all times of the year, 

 but their numbers are greatly increased at the end of August or the 

 beginning of September, at which time large flocks are wont to ascend the 

 estuarv of the Exe to feed on the marshes below Countess Weir. 



According to Mr. Gatcombe the resident birds go to the moors early in 

 March. The eggs are laid in May. Two eggs were found on Sherbitor 

 Farm, Dartmoor, two miles from Prince Town, May 11th, 1886. After 

 rearing their young they return to the sea-coast in August (J. G., Zool. 

 1877, p. 270; 1878, p. 24iJ ; 1879, p. 420; 1882, p. 458 ; 1887, p. 376). 

 Curlews are said to roost at night on the sea-cliffs with the Gulls. They 

 have been known to breed on the shores of tlie I'lymouth harbours 

 (J. C. B., Nat. Hist. S. Devon, p. 29S, note). 



In the autumn and winter large flocks assemble, feeding by the water- 

 line at low tide, and betaking themselves to the marshes or to wet stuljble 

 and turnip-fields on the liiUsides Avhen the sands and oozes arc covered. 



The Curlew is the most Avary of all the shore birds and the most 

 difficult to approach. By watching tlieir line of flight, and lying up for 

 them beliind a hedge, it is possible to get a shot once or twice, l)ut not 

 oftener, as the birds will very soon detect the danger and take another 

 direction. In the spring wo have sometimes succeeded in wliistling them 



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