BIRDS OF THE SHORES AND RIVER MARGINS 263 
and sand-flats of tidal waters, or salt marshes, often in the company 
of the Curlew. Its call-note is a high, clear, short whistle, repeated 
seven or eight times in a descending scale of semitones. Food: small 
crustaceans, worms, and aquatic insects. 
nest. A hollow scooped in the ground, scantily lined with grass, and 
generally placed on a hummock or mound, mostly a bare one, in an 
exposed situation. 
eggs. Four, pale olive, blotched and spotted with greenish-brown 
and brown markings. Breeding-season: June and July (northern 
Europe and northern Asia). 
27. Little Whimbrel Mesoscolopax minutus Gould 
Mes-o-scol'-o-pax—Gk, mesos, intermediate; Gk, scolopax , snipe: min-u'- 
tus— L., minutus, little. 
distribution. Eastern Siberia, migrating southwards to Australia 
and Tasmania; accidental to New Zealand. 
notes. Usually in flocks, arriving in Australia during September or 
October, departing in March or April. For the most part it frequents 
open plains and the margins of swamps and marshes, but is also 
observed on mud and sand-flats of tidal waters. When disturbed, it 
utters a loud “Teo, teo”, more like a wail than a whistle. Food: in¬ 
sects (chiefly grasshoppers), worms, and seeds. 
nest. Not recorded. 
eggs. Not recorded. Breeds evidently on Upper Yana (near Ver- 
koyansk, about 67£° N.) and middle Lena; not farther south than 
59° N. 
28. Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinella Brunnich 
Li-rnic'-o-la— L., limus, marsh; L., colere, to inhabit: fal-cin-ell'-a— L., 
falcinella, little scythe. 
distribution. Arctic regions, Europe, and Asia, migrating south¬ 
wards to northern Africa and China; accidental to the Molucca Islands 
and Australia. 
notes. There are few records of the occurrence of this species in 
Australia, and nothing has been published concerning its habits while 
wintering here. It was first observed in north-western Australia; later 
in the Northern Territory; and there is a specimen which was col¬ 
lected at Botany Bay in December 1916. Perhaps it visits us annually, 
but has been overlooked. It frequents fresh and salt-water marshes as 
well as the sea-shore, and when on migration usually travels in small 
flocks. 
nest. A hollow (rather deep for a Wader) scooped in the ground, 
and lined with dry grass. Generally placed on a low sedge-clothed 
hummock, in an open grassy part of a mountain marsh. 
eggs. Four, stone-buff to brown, mottled and spotted with “neutral 
tint" and dark brown markings. Breeding-season: June (breeds in the 
Arctic regions, Europe, and Asia). 
