330 



NUMENIUS. 



Summer 

 range. 



"Winter 

 range. 



The Whimbrel is a bird of very powerful flight : it leaves our shores in its worn 

 summer plumage, and moults its quills slowly in December in its winter-quarters ; young 

 birds are easy to detect in autumn by their shorter bills, and by the clearly defined buff 

 spots on the upper parts, especially on the outer webs of the scapulars and tertials. The 

 Whimbrel appears to be somewhat wild in its migrations, as amongst a large series of 

 British examples a few Oriental Whimbrels occasionally occur, and in a large series of 

 Indian and Burmese birds a few Common Whimbrels appear to be found. 



The Western form of the Common Whimbrel has repeatedly been found in Greenland, 

 and probably breeds there (Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, p. 10). It is a common summer visitor 

 to Iceland and the Faroes, and breeds in some numbers on the Shetlands and Orkneys. 

 It may also breed in North-west Scotland, but the evidence that it does so is very unsatis- 

 factory. Its breeding-range extends eastwards to Lapland and the fells of Norway and 

 Sweden, above the limit of forest-growth. Henke (Ibis, 1882, p. 382) says that it is a 

 rare summer visitor to Archangel ; and Harvie Brown and I found it very rare in the valley 

 of the Petchora, in lat. 66° ; but Sabanaeff (Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow, 1877, p. 309) 

 says that it is common on the steppes of the Ural. 



On migration it is found on all the European coasts, and on most inland fly-lines, 

 wintering on the Azores, the Canaries, and the other West-African islands. In the 

 Mediterranean it is chiefly known in spring and autumn on migration, but it winters 

 throughout the coasts of Tropical Africa, and visits many localities in the interior. I found 

 it common in the Bay of Durban in March ; Heuglin records it from the Blue Nile; Ayres 

 obtained it in the Transvaal ; and it is said to be found all the year round in Aden Bay 

 (Major Yerbury, Ibis, 1886, p. 21). The fact that so many immature migratory birds 

 remain in their winter-quarters, like the Whimbrels in the Red Sea, or stop short of their 

 breeding-grounds, like the Whimbrels in North Scotland, is no doubt the cause of much 

 error in describing the breeding-range of these and many other birds. 



NUMENIUS PH^OPUS VARIEGATUS. 



ORIENTAL WHIMBREL. 



Diagnosis. Ntjmenius ph^eopus dorso postico uropygioque valde briumeo striatis. 



Variations. Tiie Eastern and Western forms completely intergrade. 



