THE COMMON CURLEW. 4:^1 



those portions of the shore which most abound in worms 

 and small crustaceous animals ; these they either pick up 

 and, as it were, coax from the tip to the base of the beak, 

 or, thrusting their long bills into the mud, draw out the 

 w^orms, which they dispose of in like manner. When the 

 sands or ooze are covered, they withdraw from the shore, 

 and either retire to the adjoining marshes or pools, or pace 

 al3out the meadows, picking up worms, snails, and insects. 

 Hay-fields, before the grass is cut, are favourite resorts, 

 especially in the North ; and, in districts where there are 

 meadows adjoining an estuary, they are in the habit of 

 changing the one for the other at every ebb and flow of 

 the tide. From the middle of autumn till the early spring 

 Curlews are, for the most part, sea-side birds, frequenting, 

 more or less, all the coast ; but at the approach of the 

 breeding season they repair inland, and resort to heaths, 

 damp meadows, and barren hills. Here a shallow nest 

 is made on the ground, composed of bents, rushes, and 

 twigs of heath, loosely put together. The eggs, which 

 are very large, are four in number. During the period 

 of incubation the male keeps about the neighbour- 

 hood, but is scarcely less wary than at other seasons. 

 The female, if disturbed, endeavours to lure away the 

 intruder from her dwelling by the artifice, common in the 

 tribe, of pretending to be disabled ; and great anxiety is 

 shown by both male and female if any one approaches the 

 spot where the young lie concealed. The latter are able 

 to run almost immediately after they are hatched, but 

 some wrecks elapse before they are fledged. It seems 

 probable that an unusually long time elapses before they 

 attain their full size, for the dimensions of different 

 individuals vary to a remarkable degree. Eight or nine 

 specimens were brought to me in Norfolk in the winter of 

 1861, and among them about half seemed full-grown ; 

 of the others some Avere so small that, at the first glance, 

 I supposed them to be Whimbrels. 



