4^'li) 



SCOLOPACID^. 



announces the fact that a party of Curlews have discovered 

 that the ebb-tide is well advanced, and that their feeding 

 ground is uncovered. The stroller, if quietly disposed, 

 may chance to get a sight of the birds themselves as they 

 arrive in small flocks from the inland meadows ; and though 

 they will probably be too cautious to venture within an 

 unsafe distance, they will most likely come cjuite close 



THK COMMON CURLEW. 



enough to be discriminated. Not the merest novice could 

 mistake them for Gulls ; for not only is their flight of a 

 difierent character, but the bill, which is thick enough to 

 be distinguished at a considerable distance, is disproportion- 

 ately long, and is curved to a remarkable degree. Curlews 



are 



in the habit of selecting as their 



feeding ground 



