WHIMBREL 
91 
day's shooting in the marshes of Connewarre, when 
he espied a large flock of Plover-like birds feeding 
on the grassy upland which lies between the Queens- 
cliff Road and the Breakwater, about where the 
Geelong Racecourse now is. Heavy westerly winds 
had been blowing, and the birds had the appearance 
of being tired from a long flight. The identification 
of the bulk of the flock as Golden Plover was no 
difficult task for a naturalist of Mr. Mulder's experi- 
ence, but suddenly his keen eye picked out a stranger. 
It was fully 90 yards away ; he took his chances 
as the bird raised its head to fly, fired, and to his 
delight secured the prize, getting, as the flock rose, 
a brace of Golden Plover with a left barrel " into the 
brown." The first bird proved to be a Whimbrel, 
in such good condition that the fat was literally 
running out of its beak — and this was the first and 
last Whimbrel that has ever with certainty been 
recorded for the Geelong district. The bird is 
15 inches long, and has the bill distinctly arched, 
though it is but 3 inches long as compared with the 
7-inch bill of the Curlew. The plumage of the upper 
surface is brown, blotched and streaked with darker 
brown, the breast buffy-white with brown shaft-lines. 
Mr. W. L ewis informed me that in 1907) on Conne- 
warre, he shot thirty-six out of a flock of forty-two 
birds, which were described by the salesmen as Whim- 
brels, but I have not been able to ascertain whether 
these were Whimbrels, Little Whimbrels, or possibly 
Godwits. 
