CURLEW. 241 



passing over at night in what must be very large 

 numbers. By July the moors are again deserted, and 

 old and young travel down to the shore together. The 

 eggs are three or four in number, and are laid the end 

 of April or beginning of May, in a slightly-constructed 

 nest, sometimes on the driest parts of the ground, and 

 sometimes in marshy places, and are rarely found 

 except by accident. " As wary as a Curlew " has almost 

 become a proverb, and both birds-nester and wild-fowler 

 know this well, but Mr. T. .Jackson says that in foggy 

 weather, or in the half-light of morning or evening, it is 

 the easiest of birds to get a shot at, and in the dark is 

 the worst seeing one he knows. It varies very much in 

 size, and specimens are often procured very little bigger 

 than a Whimbrel. 



" Fly-nets " or " Eing-nets " (see Plate) are set when there is 

 no moon, and across the baiiks which are last covered by the tide. 

 They are made of very fine cotton or linen thread, from three-inch 

 to five -inch mesh, and thirteen to fifteen mesh deep, and are hmig 

 diamond-ways on poles from ten to twenty yards apart ; this is 

 done very loosely, so as to give plenty of " bag," and on the Kibble 

 the bottom is allowed to come close to the gromid, but on the Lmie 

 a gap of three feet is left. The name " Ring-nets " arises from 

 there being a small brass ring or pulley at the top of the poles 

 through which the cord for pulling them up is run. There is, of 

 course, no limit to their length, and as much as 800 yards has been 

 known to be set by one man. Ciu'lew, Whimbrel, Geese, Ducks, 

 and all the shore-birds are taken, the smaller ones, such as Dunlin, 

 getting so entangled as many times to need being torn in pieces 

 before they can be removed. The only birds which ever break 

 through are Teal, a bunch of these, flying down wind, often 

 doing so. 



