252 XUMENIUS ARQUATA. 



Progress toward Maturity. — When the first plumage 

 is perfected, the bird scarcely differs from the adult, except 

 in having the light tints paler, and the bill much shorter 

 and more flexible. That organ, however, rapidly elongates, 

 and in the second year appears to obtain its full size, 

 although it presents great differences in individuals, some 

 having it an inch or more longer than others. 



Remarks. — There are extensive tracts of hill and moor 

 in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff, to which Curlews 

 were not known to resort twenty years ago, but which are 

 now more or less frequented by them during the breeding 

 season. Yet these tracts have not undergone any perceptible 

 change, except that of being better protected by gamekeepers. 

 It is remarkable that, though at most, perhaps all, seasons of 

 the year, Curlews are to be seen along the shores of the 

 Outer Hebrides, none bred there, or were to be met with on 

 the hills or moors in summer, thirty years ago, though the 

 case may be different now. The hill ranges of the south of 

 Scotland are all much more frequented by them than those 

 of any other tract that I have visited. 



