Shore-bird Shooting 439 



Adult in winter — Similar, but less heavily striped, especially on 

 under parts. 



Young — Like adults but more tawny, and the light markings of 

 inner secondaries, tawny buff. 



Measurements — Length, 21 to 24 inches ; wing, 11.50 inches; tail, 

 5 inches ; culmen, 4.25 to 6 inches ; tarsus, 3 inches. 



Eggs — Three or four ; light greenish to olive-brown, spotted with 

 olive-brown, umber-brown, and purplish; measure 2.75 by 1.80 

 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds in Great Britain, and from Holland and southern 

 Russia to the White Sea and the Ural Mountains, and possibly 

 in the south of France. Winters in Great Britain and through- 

 out Africa, from the Mediterranean to Cape Colony. In migra- 

 tion has occurred in Iceland, the Azores, and Persia. There is 

 strong evidence to show that a mounted specimen of this species, 

 in the New York State Museum, was prepared by a New York 

 taxidermist, and shot on Long Island, New York, in 1853. 

 This is the only claim of the European curlew to an American 

 registry. 



In the wild moorland found in parts of the 

 British Islands, scattered pairs of this curlew 

 make small hollows among the moss and heather, 

 line them with a little grass and moss, and de- 

 posit their eggs in them late in April. Then the 

 male stands motionless on some near-by hillock 

 and whistles to the female if any one approaches. 

 She at once runs some distance, then flies 

 rapidly, and returns high in air after making a 

 wide circle, uttering her plaintive cry. High on 

 the hills and often far from water, they spend the 

 summer, not returning to the shore until the 

 young are fledged. 



