to the flats to rest and bathe, “ being,” adds Mr. Stevenson, ‘ particularly fond of

r their plumage with their wings.
ys Thompson, “ which can be characterized in general

. retiring occasionally
| HHI | washing and splashing the water ove
| “This is the only one of the Scolopacidee,” sa oo a
terms as a bird of double passage, only visiting us merely on migration to and from its breeding-haunts,
EHTS THT In the month of April or May it appears in large flocks: : thi
i | i of Wexford, Dublin, Louth, Down, Antrim, &c. As the W himbrel is not found to the westward within
iH HAV the latitude of Ireland, it is interesting to know that these migratory bodies mone regu along the
MNT western as the eastern coast. Thus they are very common in April and May near Tralee, in Kerry, appear
in large flocks about Roundstone, on the Galway coast, in May, and remain during that month where they
‘se take an inland course of flight, appearing, among other places,

: . are unknown at other times. ‘They likew
HA at the marshes below Killaloe, on the Shannon, every spring, and in the high moory ground about Lough

Conn, in Mayo. Their popular name everywhere has the wore

May-fowl, &c., in consequence of their appearance in that month.
| ) Hi | are often very tame, and may be openly approached within gun-shot ;
| 111 wild. They generally remain from four to six weeks, then depart, and reappear again very soon after
middle of July, their numbers gradually increasing from the

along the line of the eastern coast, on that

 

1 May connected with it, as May-bird,
On their arrival in’ spring they
but persecution soon makes them

Wi the breeding-season, generally about the
| WH || ih time they are first seen. During August they are most numerous in the Bay of Belfast, from which
they are chiefly gone by the end of September. In spring, Whimbrels generally keep by themselves ;

| but in autumn they exhibit a very sociable disposition, and are frequently to be found in company with

| . | Curlews and Godwits. They fly much about during the autumnal nights, be they dark or moonlight, but
prefer the latter. They may always be distinguished by their cry. They fly from the sea inland as
NW well as the opposite direction, and take both courses during every turn of the tide; hence we may

 

. | ii | consider them to be night-feeding birds.”

Wi Hi | . “Tn the beginning of May,” says Macgillivray, “a few individuals of this species make their appearance

Hy here and‘there on the sandy pastures bordering the west coast of the long range of the Outer Hebrides,
from one end to the other. Their numbers daily increase, until, in about a week, they are in many
places very numerous. Their food consists of Budimus acutus and Helix ericetorum, which are very abundant

;

WWW A there. They walk, for the most part, sedately, but sometimes with alacrity, having their neck bent
forward, and their regards fixed on the ground. If alarmed, they stand, elevate their heads, emit a shrill
|

| | HII | tremulous cry, and perhaps fly off, or presently resume their search. If surprised, they are clamorous
| | . in their flight, but usually alight at no great distance. When on the wing they display the white part
1 i of the back conspicuously, and have a beautiful appearance.”

HHI | “The Whimbrel,” remarks Mr. Hewitson, “ breeds in wild, desolate districts, far distant from human

habitation, on open moors and uncultivated wastes, choosing in preference those which are wet and

 

 

 

A
| | | | marshy and composed of moss and that black peaty soil which is, in such places, a substitute for coal.
| | «The nest is nothing more than a slight depression in the surface of the ground. We might except
| | : that the eggs, like those of all the allied species, would be four in number; but none of the nests I have
. myself examined contained more than three ; as these were all fresh, the number was probably incomplete.”
The late Mr. Wolley informed Mr. Hewitson that “in the Faroe Islands the Whimbrel is very
abundant, and is always flying round just out of shot; in the north of Sweden 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 con-
clusion that the Whimbrel lays only three. The eggs are pear-shaped, very like those of the Curlew, but
smaller, and are of a dark olive-brown, blotched with darker brown.
I am indebted to Mr. J. Edmund Harting for a fine example of this bird, killed by him on the 11th
of May 1870, in Pagham Harbour, in Sussex, to which, he states, the bird is “a regular visitant in May
and August,” as he believes is the case along the whole of our south coasts. ‘In May, only the old
Hl | birds are seen; in August, both old and young make their appearance. The young admit of a nearer
approach than the old ones, and are good eating.”

 

Lhe birds in the accompanying Plate are about the size of life.