BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 77 



Curlew as the only sound to disturb the mountain 

 solitudes. 



During the winter months, when they keep for 

 the most part in large flocks, haunting the estuaries 

 of rivers in company with the Redshanks, Golden 

 Plovers, and their other companions of the moor- 

 lands, the Curlews use a different note from that 

 which adds such a charm to the moorlands or, 

 rather, they sometimes use this note during the 

 nesting season, as well as several others, among 

 which is the wild, vibrating cry which they begin 

 to utter directly they arrive from the coast. This 

 is the love-song of the male bird, and commences 

 with a whistle uttered in a low key, the succeeding 

 whistles being uttered rapidly, all the while in a 

 rising key, until the top note is reached, when the 

 whistle becomes more prolonged, until it dies away 

 in a sort of long-drawn wail. 



If there is any wind the Curlew hovers against 

 it, something after the fashion of a Kestrel, all the 

 while uttering its plaintive whistle, but the call 

 note is used more frequently when the bird is 

 descending. 



The Curlew is very local in its distribution 

 and may be found in great numbers on a hill on one 

 side of the valley, while on the other side it is almost 

 unknown. The ideal nesting haunt is a hillside 

 with not too much heather, but a plentiful growth 

 of long and coarse grass, and a good deal of boggy 

 ground here and there, as the Curlews obtain most 

 of their food from the marshes. 



Towards the middle of March, if the weather be 

 fine, the Curlews begin to appear on the moor- 

 lands, adding an immense charm to the mountain 

 sides and lonelv moors. Thev usuallv arrive in 



