912 NUMENIUS PILEOPUS. 



Port Blair in the second week of May, and it was also procured on the 10th of September ; it was usually 

 seen in small flocks, which fed on the mud batiks left exposed by the ebb of the tide. 



If we unite the Australian and the Asiatic forms, we find this Whimbrel occurring in the Philippines 

 and throughout the Malay Archipelago. Herr Meyer has been kind enough to inform me that it has been 

 procured in the following months from the islands here named : — January : Amboina, Cebu, Malanipa (near 

 Zamboanga). February: Amboina, Waigiou, Gebe, Timor. March: South Celebes, N. Celebes, Batchian, 

 Waigiou, Admiralty Islands. April : N. Celebes, Halmahera, Ceram, Flores, Jobi. May : Ternate, Waigiou. 

 June : New Guinea. July : New Guinea. August : Mactan (Philippine Isl.), Central Celebes (Gulf of Tomini ). 

 September : Morotai, Batchian, Kei, Aru. October : Ternate, Borneo. November : Halmahera, Ceram, 

 Timor. December: Cujo (Philippine Isl.). 



It has also been obtained in Sumatra and Banka. It is recorded by Mr. Gould as occurring in winter 

 throughout the coasts of Australia, including Tasmania, as also by Mr. Ramsay in his recent " Distri- 

 bution " list. Turning north again, we find Swinhoe recording it from Formosa and the southern coasts of 

 China, as also from the maritime region between Pekin and Shanghai. In Japan, according to Messrs. 

 Blakiston and Pryer, it has been found in Yezo and Tokio, and at Yokohama and Hakodadi. Regard- 

 ing its distribution in Asia, it does not seem to extend to the extensive northern parts of the continent; for 

 I do not find it recorded from N.E. Siberia, nor from the Yenesay and Ob rivers, although it follows the 

 north-east coast to Kamtchatka, whence it has been recorded. Von Schrenck likewise did not notice it in 

 Amoor Land. Radde, however, met with it in the western portion of East Siberia; and M. Taczanowski 

 obtained it in Dauria. 



In Palestine Canon Tristram saw a small Curlew, which may have been this species, but did not 

 procure a specimen. In Southern Europe it is common in winter ; but it is seen in greatest numbers in Italy, 

 Transylvania, and Turkey on its spring migration to the north. In the latter country it does not appear to 

 be common ; it occurs near Constantinople, and has been seen in Macedonia. In the summer it is found in 

 Northern Europe to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and breeds in Finland, Northern Russia, Scandinavia, and 

 Iceland, in which latter island it is common. It is also found in Greenland. It is abundant at this season in 

 the Faroe Islands. It nidificates as far south as Schleswig Holstein and Great Britain; in the latter of which 

 regions its breeding-places are restricted to the Orkneys and Shetlands, the coasts of Sutherlaudshire and 

 Caithness, and it is asserted that it has bred in Yorkshire. It is found in autumn, winter, and spring on the 

 coast of England and in France. In Portugal it is common in winter, and is likewise so in Spain, according 

 to Mr. Saunders. In Andalucia Col. Irby says it is plentiful in autumn and spring, and a few are seen in 

 winter. It inhabits the Azores and tbe Cape-Verd Islands, in the former of which Mr. DuCane Godman 

 met with it. It has a wide distribution in Africa, extending eastwards to the Seychelles, and also to 

 Madagascar, Mauritius, and Bourbon. In tbe island of Mahe, in the former group, Mr. E. Newton found it 

 plentiful. It does not appear to be resident on all parts of the north coast in the winter ; for Favier says that 

 it arrives early in the autumn in Morocco, and is for a time very common, passing south for the winter. It 

 has been observed in Algeria and Tunis, and in Egypt it remains throughout the winter. Von Heuglin states 

 that it is chiefly an autumn and winter species in North-east Africa, but that he has seen it in spring in 

 Lower Egypt ; it has been procured on the Blue Nile and in Abyssinia ; Mr. Blanford obtained it at Massowa, 

 and Von Hemprich procured it on the coast of Arabia. It has been observed at Zanzibar on its way south ; 

 and in the Transvaal Mr. Ayres obtained it in November ; be also noticed it in Natal, where it is, however, 

 not so plentiful as the Curlew. It is stated to be resident in Madagascar, probably owing to barren birds 

 remaining there in the breeding-season. Layard remarks that it is rare in Cape colony, two specimens shot 

 near Cape Town only coming under his notice. 



Mr. Andersson obtained it in Walvisch Bay ; and north of Damara Land it has been observed at most places 

 on tbe west coast, including the island of St. Thomas and Gaboon. Captain Shelley procured it on the Gold 

 Coast, and Pel in Ashantee. Governor Ussher says that it is more frequent in Sierra Leone than on the Gold 

 Coast. It is also recorded from Gambia. 



Habits. — This widely-distributed species is not so sby as the Curlew, and does not associate in such large 

 flocks. It is frequently noticed alone, or three or four scattered along an extent of half a mile of sea-beach, 



