THE CURLEW 191 



closely resemble each other, but the female is the larger 

 of the two, and her bill is slightly longer, being nbout 7 

 inches in length. In the nesting plumage the mature 

 bird is of a pale creamy brown, heavily striated with a 

 darker shade of the same colour on the head and neck. 

 This striation appears also on the under parts, which are 

 white. The rump is white. The shortest upper tail coverts 

 are white, streaked with dark brown, the longest are white, 

 barred with dark brown. The primaries also are of this 

 colour, the outermost with white bars across the inner 

 webs, the innermost with white bars across both webs. 

 Secondaries barred with brown and white. Breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail coverts white. Bill brown. 

 Legs pale slate grey. After the autumn moult the upper 

 parts are more pale and the striations less marked. 



In the young of the season the upper parts, neck and 

 breast, are more rufous, the bars on the wings are more 

 clearly defined ; the under parts, too, are more strongly 

 barred. The average length of an adult Curlew is about 

 2 feet, and the extent of the wings 3| feet. The birds 

 vary considerably in size, so a hard and fast average is 

 difficult. 



