BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 79 



life. During this storm I saw a Wheatear one 

 of the earliest of our summer visitors gazing with 

 evident astonishment at the snow-covered ground, 

 probably seeing snow for the first time in its life. 



After having been at their summer haunts for 

 six weeks or so, the Curlews begin to think of 

 nesting, and by the first week in May many of 

 the birds have eggs. The Curlews are extremely 

 shy at all times, but especially during the nesting 

 season. Then the male bird is usually on the 

 watch, and at his whistle the hen immediately 

 leaves her nest, when you are still perhaps half 

 a mile away. The hen always flies right off the 

 nest, and does not, like the Golden Plover and most 

 ground-nesting birds, run for some distance first. 

 As it is, the nest is extremely difficult to find, and 

 if the Curlew were to run along the ground before 

 taking flight, it would be almost hopeless to attempt 

 to discover it. 



The Curlew's nest is a cup-shaped hollow scraped 

 in the ground, generally in marsh land and some- 

 times on a little knoll surrounded by water, as in 

 the photograph illustrating this article. The nest has 

 hardly any lining sometimes a few straws or sprigs 

 of heather. 



The eggs invariably number four ; they are 

 pear-form in shape, and are very large for the 

 size of the bird ; they are always placed with 

 their small ends lying in the centre of the nest. 

 It is usually the case with ground-nesting birds 

 that they lay very large eggs, as the young chicks 

 must be strong and vigorous directly they emerge 

 from the shell, so as to be able to hold their own 

 with the number of enemies which are always 

 abundant on the moorlands. Birds of the Hawk or 



