2o8 STOJ^IES ABOUT BIRDS. 



far out at sea, busily catching fish, and golden plovers, and snipes, and 

 hundreds more, all enjoying the loneliness and the security of the spot. 

 Among them stalks the curlew. You see that he has long legs, like the 

 heron, and a long bill. He thrusts his bill into the soft sand, and works 

 it about. Then he draws out a worm, which he swallows, withdraws his 

 bill, and looks carefully round. By-and-by he picks up a snail, and now and 

 then he discovers a crab lurking behind a stone. 



He is very shy and suspicious, so that it is said by the sportsmen in the 

 Hebrides, that to kill seven curlews is enough for a lifetime. 



When alarmed they spread out their wings, run forward a few yards, 

 utter loud cries, and fly away. 



They equally frequent dry pastures and moist meadows and shallow 

 pools, and are often seen wading into the water. 



Towards the end of March they leave the sea-shores, and betake them- 

 selves to the heaths and moors, and begin to make their nests. 



The young curlews soon begin to run about, and are covered with long 

 stiff down. They squat down, if they are alarmed, quite close to the ground. 

 At first the bill is only about the length of the head, but it soon grows longer. 

 At this period both birds, old and young, feed upon insects, larvae, and 

 worn:s. But they do not get fat until the autumn, when they unite into 

 small flocks, and go to the coasts. The flesh of the curlew is thought to 

 be a great delicacy, and the birds are often met with in the markets. 



We can tell you a story of a tame curlew. He had been wounded in the 

 wing, and was carried home and put with a number of other birds of the water- 

 loving kind, such as ducks and geese. He was so very shy that he would not eat 

 anything, and would have been starved to death if his owner had not crammed 

 the food down his throat. After that, he grew tamer, and began to eat worms. 

 As worms were not very plentiful, an attempt was made to feed him with 

 bread and milk, and a few worms were put into the mess to tempt him. It 

 was curious to see how he acted. He would pick out a worm, having carefully 

 hunted for it with his bill, and then he would carry it to the pond, and 

 carefully wash it from every particle of bread and milk, before he would 

 swallow it. After a time, however, he began to like the milk and bread, and 

 would eat heartily, and from being skin and bone he grew plump and in 

 good condition. 



He also became very tame, and would follow any one about for a bit of 



