THE CURLEWS. 
325 
but nnre especially on the sand spit above mentioned. Having 
ascertained that this point of the “ Ji)obb n” was their favourite 
resting-place at night-time, he double-shotted his great Bir- 
mingham gun, and tied a string to the trigger, the charge 
being too heavy to fire from the shoulder. He directed the point 
of the muzzle on to the end of the sand-spit and covered the 
single barrel of the gun with a huge heap of stones ; then, in 
the dark, judging the time when the Whimbrel would congre- 
gate, he crossed a mile of mud-flats, forded the creek, and 
crept up towards the unsuspecting birds. By dint of crawling 
over the shingle of the “ Dobbin ” he gained possession of the 
string attached to the gun, listening for the “tittering” of the 
Whimbrel to announce their nightly assemblage. When the 
whistling notes of the birds had assured him that a goodly 
number were present, he discharged his gun. It did not burst, 
as he had fully expected, but, as a reward of his enterprise, he 
picked up twenty-one Whimbrel. 
On the spring migration I have found the Whimbrel much 
more easy to procure. They are then generally met with 
singly, and I have obtained several birds in full breeding 
plumage on the saltings of Romtiey Hoy, where by a careful 
stalk they could be approached within distance. Although in 
many respects resembling the Curlew, there are many points of 
difference in the habits of the two birds, and I have never seen 
the Whimbrel distributed singly over the mud-flats as is often 
the case widi the Curlew, nor is their call-note so often heard. 
Curlew likewise do not go in close flocks like the Whimbrel. 
Nest. — Seebohm writes:— “The favourite breeding-grounds 
of the ^\d■lirabrel are the moors and heaths in close proximity 
to the sea. When the vicinity of their nest is intruded 
upon, the Whimbrels fly into the air and circle round and 
round. The nest is very slight, a little hollow amongst the 
heath, or under the shelter of a tuft of coarse grass, in a dry 
part of the swamp, and is lined with a few scraps of dry 
herbage.” 
Eggs. — Four in number, laid at the end of May, pyriform in 
shape, and resembling those of the Curlew, but smaller. 
Axis, 2 ’o 5-2'45 inches ; diam., i-fi-i-ys. 
