CHARADRIID&. 629 
THE WHIMBREL. 
NuMENIUS PH&opuS (Linnzus). 
The Whimbrel sometimes makes its appearance on our shores in 
the early part of April, but the main body of migrants northward 
arrive in May, with a regularity which has procured for this species 
the name of “ May-bird” in Cornwall, Hants, Norfolk and other 
counties. A small number of non-breeders remain on our coasts 
during the summer, while by the latter part of July the return 
passage sets in and continues through the autumn; at the latter 
season, however, the birds usually fly very high, and few are met 
with after the end of September, though a laggard has been shot in 
December. None are known to breed on the mainland of Scotland, 
but a small number nest on some of the Orkneys and a good many 
do so on several of the Shetlands ; while a pair or two inhabit 
North Rona in the Outer Hebrides, and the other islands of that 
group are visited in spring. In Ireland the Whimbrel occurs on 
the west coast in winter (Irby), and is abundant on the inland bogs 
during the spring migration, but it has never been known to breed. 
As a wanderer this species has occurred on Jan Mayen, and often 
