NUMENIUS PH^EOPUS." 913 



& 



each one appearing to be entirely independent of the other. On its first arriving I used to find it frequentin 

 the rocks in the secluded bays in Trincomalie harbour, several being found in one little cove perhaps : at night 

 they resorted from various points to an island to roost ; and this habit has been noticed by others, although it 

 must be understood that it is not stationary throughout the night, as it is to a great extent a nocturnal 

 feeder. I have invariably found the stomachs of those shot in the early morning full of food, and sometimes 

 the reverse has been the case when I procured them in the evening. They are fonder of rocks than the 

 Curlew, as they find their favourite food (crabs) in such places ; these they swallow whole after breaking off 

 the legs and claws ; even when I have shot them on the mud fiats bordering large salt lagoons I have found 

 their stomachs chiefly containing small crabs. In spite of its crustacean diet its flesh is better eating than 

 that of the Curlew, which is in general, as I have stated, very fishy. The flight of the Whimbrel is strong 

 and swift, and in style resembles that of the Curlew. When it is proceeding to some distant point, it mounts 

 high in the air, and during its course gives out, now and then, its loud and well-known call, which may 

 always be known from the dissyllabic call of its larger congener by its hoarseness and longer duration. A 

 writer, in speaking of its habits in Iona says, " the unusual and peculiar cry of the Whimbrel announces the 

 fact that summer is nigh. Its call consists of several rapidly-repeated, short and clear whistles, uttered about 

 seven times in rapid succession ; whence its name of Seven Whistler has been derived. This cry is heard 

 as the flocks are flying to and fro high in the air." Towards evening I have found it shier than in the 

 morning, and it is sometimes so wary that much stalking is required to get within shot of it. Some writers 

 affirm that the Whimbrel is very fond of bilberries and whortleberries ; but I am unable to testify to the 

 truth of this statement. 



Nidification. — The breeding-season of this species is in June and July. In the hills in Scotland and in 

 the Orkneys it nests on the ground in heathy situations, and uses pieces of heather, dry grass, bents, &c. for 

 the material. Mr. Collett describes the nest as " simply a depression in the soil on the top of some slight 

 elevation in any comparatively dry spot in the marshes, and is usually lined with a few grass-bents or leaves." 

 Captain Feilden, who found it breeding in great nnmbers in the Faroes, discovered one nest between two 

 blocks of stone, which just gave room enough for the bird to squeeze between. He remarks, " it is of a 

 pugnacious disposition whilst breeding, and is constantly on the alert to drive off intruders from the vicinity 

 of the nest ; I have watched them by the hour chasing the Lesser Black-backed Gull (L. fuscus) . When 

 engaged in these combats their flight is rapid and arrow-like, whilst they constantly repeat their trilling cry, 

 which has not inaptly been described as resembling the words tetty, tetty, tetty, tet." The nesting-time there 

 is in May and June. The eggs are three or four in number ; they are dusky olive in colour, blotched and 

 spotted with dark brown, and clouded with the same often at the large end ; sometimes eggs are found quite 

 unspotted. They measure 23 inches by T4. 



With regard to Herr Meyer's remarks in the Ibis (1879, p. 142) that this bird breeds in " small trees" 

 in Celebes, he writes me that small bushes were intended to be implied, and that he considers the information 

 he received to be trustworthy. 



I take the opportunity of remarking here, at the termination of my articles on the Scolopacidae, that I have just 

 heard of the occurrence of the Sanderling (Calidris arenaria) in Ceylon. An article, therefore, on this species will be 

 given in the Appendix. 



