THINGINiE. NUMENIUS. 
78 
Male, 23, 38,5, 12, 5, 3 X V, If, A- Female, 25, 42. 
This species is generally distributed in Britain, and com- 
mon in most districts. It retires to the interior to breed, , 
forming a slight nest, and laying four very large eggs, three j 
inches long, an inch and ten-twelfths in breadth, light olive 
or dull yellowish-brown, or pale greenish-grey, blotched and 
spotted with umber-brown. During the rest of the year it 
chiefly frequents the sea-shor*?. It feeds on worms, larvae, mol- 
lusca, and Crustacea, and may be seen probing the mud and sand 
with its long bill, although it also picks up an object from 
the surface. It is very shy and vigilant, alarming other birds 
by its reiterated loud cries, runs with speed, and has a strong 
and rapid flight. It emits various cries, often curiously mo- 1 
dulated. Being in some request as food, it is often seen in 
the markets. 
Whaup. Stock Whaup. Whitterick. 
Scolopax Arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 242. — Numenius 
Arquata, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 710. — Numenius Arquata, 
Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 603. — Numenius Arquata, Great 
Curlew, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 
189. Numenius Phjeopus. Whimbrel Curlew. 
Length from sixteen to nineteen inches ; bill little more 
than three inches ; upper part of the head dark brown, with 1 
a medial and two lateral whitish bands, streaked with dusky ; i 
neck all round pale brownish-grey, streaked with brown ; 
feathers of the fore part of the back, scapulars, and wing- ; 
coverts dusky, with marginal whitish spots ; hind part of back i 
white, tail and coverts greyish-white barred with dusky ; 
chin, hind part of breast, and abdomen white ; fore part of 
breast streaked, sides and lower wing-coverts barred with 1 
dusky. The female is much larger, with the bill proportion- 
ally longer. 
Male, 17, 30, 9f, 3 A, 2 A, 1 T \, A- Female, 19, 33. 
Common on some parts of the coast during its passage .i 
northward, chiefly frequenting sandy pastures. It has been i 
found breeding in Shetland. The eggs are four, two inches 
and a half in length, an inch and two-thirds in breadth, pyri- 
form, and coloured like those of the Great Curlew. It ap- 
pears again on the coast in autumn, and many remain along 
the shores, in England, all winter. Its habits are very simi- 
lar to those of the last species, but its cry is less loud and 
more modulated. Neither this nor the Great Curlew, although 
very extensively distributed, occur in America, where, how- 
