WHIMBREL. 
325 
might expect that the eggs, like those of all the allied 
species, would be four in number. None of those nests 
which I have myself examined, contained more than 
three; but as these were all quite fresh, the number was 
probably yet incomplete. Most of the eggs which pass 
through the hands of the dealers as belonging to this 
species, are nothing more than those of the Lestris Ricli- 
ardsonii, which are much easier to procure. The eggs of 
the Whimbrel may be usually known by their greater 
breadth, by the form of the larger end, which is a com¬ 
plete semicircle, by the straightness of the line between 
their greatest circumference and the narrow end, and by 
the colouring and character of the spots, which are easily 
detected by a practised eye, but very difficult to describe. 
In a long letter which I have lately received from him, 
full of valuable information, Mr. Wolley says, “ the Whim¬ 
brel is a bird I ought to know something about; for 
three seasons I have scarcely ever been out of its sight. 
In the Faroe Islands it is very abundant, and was always 
flying round just out of shot; here, in the north of Swe¬ 
den and Finland, it is to be seen in most of the open 
marshes, and is very noisy, especially when sitting at 
the top of a tree or stake, for it also frequents places 
where there is a good deal of wood, yet I have never 
happened to be present at the finding of more than 
two nests; they were little more than depressions in 
the ground, and contained each three eggs only/' 
From this additional information we must come to 
the conclusion, though contrary to expectation, that 
the Whimbrel, like the dotterel, lays only three eggs. 
