COMMON CURLEW. 295 



for the shore (as if they carried watches in their 

 pockets) is more than I can even guess at. They will 

 arrive just as the ooze is sufficiently uncovered for 

 them to get their food whilst wading. I have watched 

 them whilst several miles from the tide cease feeding, 

 call to one another, collect, and then point for the 

 sea ; and this, too, at the very moment I knew the 

 shallows must be nearly exposed. Spring-tides they 

 will hit off exactly, never late, always on the spot just 

 as the banks begin to show." Seebohm's explanation 

 of this curious circumstance is that scouts are probably 

 placed within sight of the shore to give the main flock 

 notice when the tide has receded sufficiently for them 

 to feed. They move very fast through the air and 

 when in companies fly in two long lines, V shaped. 



The feathers on the upper portion of the body are 

 brown, edged with pale yellowish brown ; those of the 

 lower back white, spotted with brown ; the under side, 

 yellowish brown, streaked and spotted with dark brown. 

 The quills are black, spotted and bordered with white, 

 and the tail feathers are white, striped with brown. 



The birds retire to the moors in the beginning of 

 April to breed. Eggs may be found in May. The 

 nest is simply a depression in the ground, or rather 

 in the moss or grass, more rarely on the rough soil, 

 and is slightly lined with a few stalks of grass or 

 heather. 



The eggs are four, very large and in colour dirty 

 olive brown, shaded with brown and green, and 

 variously marked with blackish brown and purplish 

 gi-ey. 



It is not an easily tamed bird, 



