322 
PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLJE. 
grounds. The nests — which were found from about June 20 to July 10 — were in 
every instance mere holes in the ground, lined with a few decayed leaves and having 
a thin sprinkling of hay in the centre. It was very difficult to detect the nest of this 
species, as the parent bird glides off long before a near approach, and the eggs closely 
resemble the grass in their colors. This species was very numerous in the Barrens. 
The female, soon after leaving her nest, usually ascends into the air in a straight 
line. The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched, and when approached, hide 
themselves in the grass, and can be found oxdy with the greatest difficulty. Some 
were already hatched by July 12. 
The eggs of this species exhibit very great variations in size, colors, and distribution 
of markings. In No. 9431 (S. I.) the ground is a pale greenish-ash, with large oblique 
blotches of different shades of sepia, the lighter inclining to a purplish-slaty tint. In 
No. 14099 (S. I.) the ground is of a deep muddy or clay-colored drab. The markings 
are chiefly toward the larger end, where they are confluent on the apex, are of an 
umber tint varying in the depth of the shade. In No. 9432 (S. I.) the ground is a 
deep olivaceous drab, and the markings, of a very dark sepia-color, are in the form of 
irregular small blotches, more numerous toward the larger end. In No. 11401 the 
ground is a light ashy-green color, and the markings are smaller, more numerous, 
more longitudinal, and of a much lighter shade of sepia. These eggs are of an oblong 
oval shape, slightly pyriform, one end more rounded than the other, and have an 
average length of about 2.10 inches, and a breadth at the largest portion of 1.90 
inches. 
Numenius phseopus. 
THE WHIMBREL. 
Scolopax 'phceopus, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, 1. 1758, 146 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 243. 
Numenius phceopus, Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 1790, 711. — Naum. Yog. Deutsclil. VIII. 1836, 506. — 
Keys. & Blas. Wirb. Eur. 78.— Bonap. Comp. List, 1838, 49. — Maugill. Man. II. 78. — 
Gray, Gen. B. III. 560 ; Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 154. — Dresser, Birds Eur. XVII. Apl. 1873, pi. 
— Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 561. — -Coues, Cheek List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 644. 
Numenius minor, Leach, Syst. Cat. 1816, 32. 
Numenius islandicus, Brehm, Viig. Deutsclil. 610. 
Scolopax borealis, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 654 (not of Forster, 1772 !). 
Phoeopus arquatus, Steph. Gen. Zool. XII. 36. 
JVhimbrel, Penn. Brit. Zool. II. 1812, 36, pi. 9. — Yarr. Brit. B. ed. 2, II. 583, fig. ; ed. 3, II. 616, 
tig. ; et Auct. 
IIab. Pal reared c Region, occasionally visiting Greenland (cf. Reinhardt, “ Ibis,” 1861, p. 10). 
Sp. Char. Adult : Crown snuff-brown or sooty-brown, divided longitudinally by a medial 
stripe of pale buff ; a dark stripe on side of head, from bill to and behind eye, with a distinct light 
