CURLEWS 205 



Wales, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, and in 

 many parts of Ireland. Coming down to the coast 

 in autumn, it frequents the mud flats in the tidal 

 harbours, sometimes in large flocks. 



The first record of its breeding in Norfolk will 

 be found, Zool, 1889, p. 336, where Mr. J. H. 

 Gumey states that the Curlew has nested amongst 

 the ling on the Prince of Wales' estate at Sandring- 

 ham. In Dorsetshire Mr. Mansell Pleydell has noted 

 several instances of its nesting on the heath lands. 



The velocity with which a Curlew flies is aston- 

 ishing. At Turnberry Lighthouse, on the Ayrshire 

 coast, during a storm at the end of 1893, a Curlew 

 dashed through one of the tower lights, completely 

 smashing the protecting plate glass, which was a 

 quarter of an inch thick. 



The weight of this bird varies, according to age 

 and condition, from 1 lb. 12 oz. to 2 lbs. 8 oz. I 

 have shot and weighed many, chiefly in autumn and 

 winter, but occasionally in spring, in Pagham Har- 

 bour, Sussex, and Breydon Harbour, Norfolk. 



I have seen a pure white Curlew which was shot 

 on the shore of the Dornoch Firth in December 

 1899, and another was shot in Co. Donegal in 1870 

 {Zool, 1870, p. 2141). 



WHIMBREL. Numenius 2:)hssopiis (Linnaeus). PL 22, 

 figs. 9, 9a. Length, ^16 in., $ 18 in. ; bill, 3 to 3*5 in.; 

 wing, 9 '5 in. ; tarsus, 2 in. 



There is reason to believe that the name Whim- 

 hrel, generally employed by English naturalists to 



