96 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
estimates its speed on certain occasions to be not 
less than a mile a minute, and possibly very 
much more! Although the Curlew repeatedly 
wades, it is not known to swim under normal 
circumstances, but has occasionally been seen 
to perch in a tree. All through the autumn and 
winter the Curlew continues gregarious. It 
migrates in vast flocks, and frequently associates 
with other wild fowl, although it may be that 
these other and smaller species seek its company 
to profit by its extraordinary vigilance. Sand- 
worms, crustaceans, and molluscs form its 
principal food whilst living on the coast, but 
in summer, at its breeding-grounds, worms, grubs, 
insects, ground fruits, and berries are eaten. The 
European form of the Curlew is pretty generally 
distributed over the western half of the Palzarctic 
region, and in winter is found throughout Africa. 
The Curlew begins to leave the coast for more 
or less inland haunts in March, scattering over 
most of our swampy moorlands and rough higher 
grounds to breed. The eggs are laid during April 
and May. The nest is invariably made upon the 
ground, and consists merely of a shallow cavity, 
lined with a few bits of withered herbage or dead 
leaves. Numbers of pairs often nest within a 
comparatively small area of suitable ground, and 
should one pair be disturbed, the entire community 
is soon thrown into a state of alarm. The four 
eggs of the Curlew vary from olive-green to buff, 
- eee ee er ee 
