2c6 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



THE CURLEW. 



The curlew belongs to the family of birds called waders, from their habit of 

 wading into tlie water in search of insects. They arc not formed by nature 

 for either swimming or diving, as their legs are too long to propel them in the 

 •water, and they have no web foot. Yet, now and then, the curlew has been 

 known not only to swim, but to dive, though it is not provided, as the divers 

 are, with an air-bag in the throat. 



We can tell you a little story about a curlew. It had been wounded 

 in the wing by a gun, and fell into the sea at some little distance from the 

 shore. The sportsman who shot it had no idea it could swim, and he had 

 not his dog with him to fetch it out. He threw off his coat and jumped in to 

 fetch it himself ; but when he came near the bird it began to swim away from 

 him. He was not able to catch it, and as it went on swimming, it led him 

 a long way from the land ; in fact, he was obliged to give up the pursuit, and 

 go back again. 



The wading birds have all very long bills. Their food lies underground 

 in the soft mud, and they have to feel for it. So that Nature has given many 

 of them a bill that can feel, and can easily be driven into the earth. The 

 bill of the curlew, and some other of the waders, has six large nerves passing 

 along the roof of the mouth, and extending to the point of the beak. The 

 whole beak is therefore sensible both to taste and to feeling. Their feet 

 have often to stand on slippery places by the water's edge, so that they are 

 wide-spreading, and have long toes. The legs are generally tall, to raise the 

 bird out of the mud. 



The wading birds only frequent the sea-coast during the winter. In 

 the warm days of spring they fly away to the north, and seek the fens 

 and moors far from the abodes of man. The sportsman who wishes to 

 see them in their summer haunts must prepare for many difficulties, and 

 think nothing of a walk through a quagmire of reeds and rushes. And if he 

 makes the slightest noise, and does not creep along in the most cautious 

 manner, the birds will be gone before he catches sight of them. When on 

 the moors they are scattered about, but on the sea-shore they form themselves 

 into flocks, and may be seen following each other in a long line as they wade 



