CURLEW B61 
they can see in the dark. I have a vivid recollection of an 
experience with these birds along the shores of a small 
freshwater lake, in the co. Clare. My friend, the Rev. 5. 
W. King, accompanied me, and as we seated ourselves on 
a boulder to rest after a hard day’s shooting, hundreds of 
Curlews alighted close to our feet. The dusk of evening had 
already set in, and as the birds continued to alight, one 
after the other, there was a constant ‘swish’ of wings which 
went on for fully half an hour after we arrived. Greater 
and greater grew the flock, until presently we listened with 
rapt attention to the chattering of scores of voices, and the 
scraping of many beaks, amid the loose stones which sur- 
rounded us. After a while the moon—more than half full— 
peeped from behind a great white rolling cloud, and, casting 
her beams earthward, revealed to us that we were surrounded 
by thousands of Curlews all unconscious of our presence. 
After a few minutes more had elapsed we singled out two 
birds somewhat apart from the others, and firing simul- 
taneously, shot them. At the report, a gigantic flock arose 
with almost deafening cries, but strange to say, the birds 
did not appear to see us or to know from whence the shot 
came, for, to our surprise, they wheeled round our heads 
and alighted again in the same spot. Here we left them 
feeding busily as before. 
In frosty weather, Curlews often scatter themselves over 
the country, frequenting fallowed fields, ditches, and wet 
meadows. If the weather be exceptionally severe the weakly 
ones perish from hunger, the ground becoming too hard for 
their long and slender beaks to penetrate. I have been 
informed that Curlews have been captured when endeavour- 
ing to extricate their beaks from frost-bound and stony soil. 
That such ill-fate may overtake these birds is not altogether 
improbable as the beak is very long and distinctly decurved 
in shape, and in all likelihood it cannot be withdrawn from 
the ground as easily as the straight beak of the Woodcock 
or Snipe. 
The Curlew has been observed at lightships, and on 
lonely rock-islands, some distance from the mainland, for at 
times it will wander many miles out to sea. I have seen 
flat-topped islands, elevated sand-banks, and rocks, crowded 
with these birds waiting patiently for the fall of the 
tide. In some districts they will fly several miles inland, 
returning precisely as the tide begins to ebb. Their 
watchfulness when feeding, especially on the ooze-flats 
