Northern Observations of Inland Birds 45 



the parents go clean mad in their efforts to divert the 

 approaching source of danger. Often they betray the 

 whereabouts of their young on the same principle as 

 that employed in '' Hunt the Thimble " — hot, cold, 

 warm, freezing, but the little curlews have a friend higher 

 and wiser than their poor devoted parents, and in their 

 protective colouring lies their safety. 



It has often occurred to me that it would not be hard 

 to learn curlew language if one could devote the time to 

 becoming sufficiently familiar with it. When I was a 

 boy I made some steps in this direction, but have for- 

 gotten what little I learnt. The curlew possesses a far 

 more extensive vocabulary than most wild birds, and 

 anyone who has studied them will agree that their 

 different notes serve as a method of intercourse. There 

 is the ordinary famiUar call note of " coy-coy,'' which 

 would seem to be equivalent to *' coming-coming ! " 

 There is the wild S.O.S. alarm, there is the '' danger in 

 the distance " warning, there is ** danger draws nearer," 

 there is " danger turned aside," in addition to the usual 

 bubbling notes of greeting and joy, and the low sad note 

 of loss and sorrow, one of the most pathetic sounds in all 

 the wilderness. I have heard a curlew that has been 

 robbed of her eggs utter this note, when for days after 

 she haunted the scene of her sorrowful memories. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that, in spite of the 

 evil superstitions that still exist in some parts of Scotland 

 regarding the " wharp," which for long was classified 

 among witches, warlocks, and the like, there is much 

 that is lovable in the character of these wild birds of 

 the hills. To many a lonely shepherd their shrill, 

 cackling alarms are the songs of spring, the springtime 

 of boyhood, renewed each year with boyish memories by 

 the coming of these cannonballs of the upper air. 



The callnote of the golden plover is among the most 



