THE WIIIMBKEL. 
193 
they retire to their breeding grounds, wliich they leave towards 
the middle of September. At that time they are not usually 
seen in flocks, neither do they resort much to the shores and 
low grounds ; seeming merely to straggle away, a family at a 
time. One or two birds may tlien often be observed flying 
very high and noisily, perhaps having become separated from 
their party. 
The AVhimbrel breeds freely in Shetland, and is still nearly 
as abundant in Yell and Hascosea* as at the time of Mr Hewit- 
son’s visit many years ago. The nest is placed among gi’ass 
and heather, and is composed of either of those materials 
indifferently ; the situation being nearly always so chosen that 
the sitting bird can easily command a clear view all round for 
the extent of several hundred yards. A great many eggs of 
this species have been brought to me, but I have not very often 
seen them in situ; the number appears to be almost invariably 
four. 
Mr Hewitson thus points out the difference between this 
egg and that of Eichardson’s Skua, with which it is often con- 
founded : — “ The eggs of the Whimbrel may be usually known 
by their greater breadth ; by the form of the larger end, which 
is a complete semicircle ; by the straightness of the line be- 
tween their greatest circumference and the narrow end, and 
by the character and colouring of the spots, which are easily 
detected by a practised eye, but very difficult to describe.” 
As far as colouring alone is concerned, the first glance generally 
settles the question, careful and close examination merely serv- 
ing to increase the difficulty. The peculiarly delicate trans- 
parent green of the Whirnbrehs egg is seldom, if ever, found 
in the egg of any of the Skuas. 
During the breeding season the behaviour of the Whimbrel 
* A small island on the coast of Yell, famous in old local tradition for the 
virtue of its soil as a specific against vermin ! I suspect it would not be 
very difficult even now to find a boat or two in which a “ kedgie of Hascosea 
earth ” has been carried across the Sound, in aid of some thrifty housewife in 
whose stores the mice were troublesome. — E d. 
N 
