SCOLOPACID^. 



627 



THE COMMON CURLEW. 



NuMENius ARQUATA (Liniiseus). 



This species is to be found during the whole year wherever sand 

 and mud-flats or rocks covered with sea-weed are left exposed by the 

 receding tide ; for even in spring, when the adults retire inland, their 

 places are taken by a few immature birds which remain during the 

 summer. The Curlew still breeds on the moors of Cornwall, Devon 

 and Somerset, sparingly in Dorset, Wilts and Hants, freely in 

 Wales and the neighbouring counties, and on the high ground 

 northwards (including the Isle of Man) as far as the Border ; also 

 on low-lying heaths, such as Thorne Waste in South Yorkshire. 

 It is even more generally distributed over the mainland of Scotland, 

 as well as in the Orkneys and Shetlands, but is not positively known 

 to nest in the Outer Hebrides, though it occurs there in autumn and 

 winter. In Ireland it is common throughout the year. 



The Curlew is only a straggler to the Fjeroes, and is almost 

 unknown in Iceland, where its representative in summer is the 

 Whimbrel ; but it breeds more or less plentifully in Scandinavia, 

 Russia, Poland, North Germany, Denmark, Holland and Flanders, 



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