. British birds & their eggs : with a new method of identification . aters. If the birds flyin company, they form up in the shape of a V, theleader occupying the apex. WHIMBEEL—17 inches; crown dark brown, with broad,light streak down the centre, the crown of the Curlewbeing entirely pale brown, streaked with dark Whimbrel occurs chiefly on migration in April-May, and again in August-September. They go gener-ally in flocks, frequenting the mud-flats, and also thegrass lands inshore. The note is a shrill tittering,consisting of from four to six short notes and a longerone, repeated. W
. British birds & their eggs : with a new method of identification . aters. If the birds flyin company, they form up in the shape of a V, theleader occupying the apex. WHIMBEEL—17 inches; crown dark brown, with broad,light streak down the centre, the crown of the Curlewbeing entirely pale brown, streaked with dark Whimbrel occurs chiefly on migration in April-May, and again in August-September. They go gener-ally in flocks, frequenting the mud-flats, and also thegrass lands inshore. The note is a shrill tittering,consisting of from four to six short notes and a longerone, repeated. WHIMBREL.—Form, like the Curlew (plate 86).17 inches. Crown dark brown, with broad, palestripe along the top; upper parts dark brown,inconspicuously mottled; lower back and rumpwhite, with dark spots; wings and tail dark;face, neck, and breast whitish, much streakedwith dark brown; belly white; bill, equal inlength to about a quarter of that of the entire bird,black, and curved sharply downwards; legs grayish-blue. Principally spring and autumn migrant. 00 J3 a. BIRDS WITH LONG, CURVED BILLS. 195 Distribution.—A few breed in the Orkneys, Shet-lands, and Outer Hebrides; elsewhere as a springand autumn migrant, chiefly on the coasts, but plen-tiful on the bogs of Ireland during the springpassage. The Whimbrel is known also as the May birdbecause of its regular appearance as a migrant at thebeginning of that month. The birds linger little onthe spring passage, but at the return migration fromAugust onwards they are much more numerous, andsome birds remain with us throughout the feed as a rule in small flocks on the mud-flatsat low tide, as well as on the grass lands inshore whenthe tide is up. The bird occurs-occasionally besideinland waters. In form and colouring the Whimbrelso closely resembles the Curlew that the former isscarcely to be distinguished from the latter unless the pale central band along the dark crown bedetected. The shy Whimbrel, however, is hard
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbora, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds
