124 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 
gun fired 80z. of shot. He managed to circumvent them in 
moonlight, which, I believe, is the best time to shoot curlews 
with a punt. I have been close to very large flocks of curlew 
in moonlight, but on all occasions the birds were much 
scattered, the resting ground being extensive. To make a 
good punt shot at curlews, they should be on a long ridge 
of cockle shells and sand, crowding together at high water. 
For my own part, I do not think much of the curlew as an 
edible bird in winter, so that even when the best punt shots 
can be made at them I do not trouble about them. Moreover, 
curlews and ducks are but seldom shot together. 
Some years ago I made a few notes on the weights of heavy 
curlews and the lengths of their bills. The heaviest curlew I 
secured turned the scale at 2 lb. 9 0z. This bird was an old 
female, and had a bill 74 in. long, measured from the gape. 
Thinking this an abnormally large one, I referred to it in print, 
and a few weeks later I was told that the weight of my bird 
could not be claimed as abnormal, since several curlews of that 
weight had been shot. Not having by me sufficient data, I 
did not make reply at the time, but resolved to take further 
notes. These have since shown that my critic must either have 
secured exceptionally large curlews or had not weighed his 
birds accurately. Possibly he may have weighed them when 
saturated with salt water. I have known a wet curlew turn the 
scale at 3 lb. When dry it weighed only 2} 1b. During the 
last three seasons I have shot with my own shoulder gun 
during autumn and winter exactly 214 curlews, all in England, 
and from this number I have collected my notes. On October 
3rd, 1906, during one tide, my brother and I secured fifty-six 
curlews with shoulder guns. The heaviest bird in this lot 
did not exceed 2 lb. 5 oz. I have observed that the bag has 
sometimes contained all young curlews, whilst on other 
occasions all have been old birds. The chief object of my 
investigations was to determine the average weight of adult 
