. Annals of the Andersonian Naturalists' Society. 54 THE LIMICOLfi OF THE CLYDE AREA, species by the shore most of the year, but less numerous in summer, when most of the birds have retired inland or farther north to breed. The curlew is often heard by night as well as by day passing overhead in the vicinity of Glasgow in every month of the year, though less frequently in the winter months. Many of these passing birds are on then- way from the Forth to the Clyde or vice versa. The curlew is a common nesting species on nearly all our moors and rough upland pastures. Where the ground is suit- ab
. Annals of the Andersonian Naturalists' Society. 54 THE LIMICOLfi OF THE CLYDE AREA, species by the shore most of the year, but less numerous in summer, when most of the birds have retired inland or farther north to breed. The curlew is often heard by night as well as by day passing overhead in the vicinity of Glasgow in every month of the year, though less frequently in the winter months. Many of these passing birds are on then- way from the Forth to the Clyde or vice versa. The curlew is a common nesting species on nearly all our moors and rough upland pastures. Where the ground is suit- able, as in some parts of Bute, it nests close to the shore. I have seen a nest at Garroch Head just above high-water mark. Nesting begins about the middle of April, the nest with its four eggs, very large for the size of the bird, being placed among grass, heather, or low-growing bog-myrtle. The curlew is a most wary bird, and does not permit of a near approach, but its wild cry of "courlie, courlie, courlie" resounding over the wilderness is sweet music to the ornithologist. It has another note like " whaup, whaup" which it repeats many times, beginning slowly but finishing rapidly. It is from this " whaup, whaup" note that our Scottish name for the bird is derived. Whimbrel (W. phoeopus (L.))—A bird of passage passing north from the end of April through May, though a bird or two may be observed in any of the summer months. Fewer birds are noticed on the return passage in autumn than in spring. It may be that the whimbrel is more silent in autumn and consequently not so easily detected, as it is usually by its distinct call " tetty, tetty, tetty, tet" that one knows of its presence. It is most often seen near the sea, but it is fre- quently observed inland. The greatest number I have seen together was seventeen in one flock on 28th April, 1900, resting in a grass field near the shore at St. Ninian's Bay, Please note that these im
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