182 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



peratures would hasten the laying of the moorland birds. 

 In the case of the Curlew, however, I am bound to say 

 that the birds did not seem to be influenced in the least. 

 I was nevertheless impressed by the remarkable punctu- 

 ality in the laying of the birds in the district I had under 

 observation, for on 27th April I saw three Curlews' nests 

 the owner of each of which was at precisely the same stage 

 in the production of her clutch. Even had the nests 

 been near to each other this fact would have been worthy 

 of setting down, but, as a matter of fact, a considerable 

 distance separated them. Again, the elevations were 

 different. One nest was about 500 feet above sea-level, 

 the second 800 feet up, while the third was near the 1000 

 feet contour line. The nest of the Curlew is — as is the 

 case with most " waders " — a primitive affair, being 

 merely a hollow scraped out amongst the heather or 

 rough grass and lined, perhaps, with a few grass stalks. 

 It is sometimes placed on a " tussock " in a bog. 



The eggs, four in number, are remarkably large for 

 the size of the bird. They are pyriform in shape, and 

 are usually, though not, be it noted, always, arranged with 

 their small ends to the centre. In markings they are 

 handsome. Some are of a bufhsh ground colour, others 

 olive green, and in the same nest one may be found differ- 

 ing markedly from its fellows. The eggs are thickly spotted 

 and blotched with dark grey-brown spots and blotches, 

 and these are generally more numerous towards the larger 

 end. The mother Curlew commences to sit after her 

 second egg has been laid. These, it may be mentioned 

 here, are not laid in the morning, and I believe that a day 

 may elapse without an egg being deposited. 



During the present season I spent some time in watch- 

 ing the behaviour of the Curlew of a certain rough meadow 

 bordering on an upland river. A pair of birds about 

 100 yards from where an ornithologist companion and I 



