274 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Arquat^. 



Curlnes [i.e. curlews] feed wholesomely upon cockles, cren- 

 isses [i.e. crawfish] muscles, and perwinkles, which maketh 

 them to have no ill taste . . . 



[Muffett does not praise the flesh of the Curlew as highly as 

 might be expected. Gesner terms it " lautissima " * and the 

 old Lincolnshire saying runs : 



'* A curlew lean or a curlew fat 



Carries twelvepence upon her back."] f 



GlJLONES ALBI & CiNEREI. 



White gulls, Gray gulls, and Black gulls (commonly termed 

 by the name of Plungers and Watar- Crows) . . . 



PUFINA BrITANNICA. 



Puffins being Birds and no Birds, that is to say Birds in 

 shew and fish in substance, or (as one may justly call them) 

 feathered fishes, are of ill taste and worse digestion ; how 

 dainty soever they seem to strange appetites, and are permitted 

 by Popes to be eaten in Lent. 



Erythropodes. 



Redlings or Water- Redshancks feed as Water-railes do, and 

 be of the like nourishment. 



Rall^ aquatics. 



Water-rails are preferred in Italy before Thrushes or Quails ; 

 they feed upon water-snails and water-flies, and the worms 

 breeding in the roots of reeds . . . 



Lari. 

 Sea-mews or Sea-cobs feed upon garbage and fish . . . 



Plate.!]. 



Sho velars [i.e. Spoonbills] feed most commonly upon the 

 Sea coast upon cockles and shell-fish ; being taken home and 

 dieted with new garbage and good meat, they are nothing 

 inferior to fatted gulls. 

 * Most delicate or rich, 

 f Another version of this couplet runs : 



'* A Curlew be she white or black 

 Carries twelvepence on her back." 



" Black Curlew " is mentioned by Lubbock, Fauna of Norfolk, p. 83, 

 Norwich, 1879, as the ordinary name of the Glossy Ibis at the beginning 

 of the last century.— F. C.R.J. 



