188 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Family CHARADRIID^E. Genus NUMENIUS. 



Subfamily TOTANIN&. 



COMMON CURLEW. 



NUMENIUS AEQUATA. (Linnteus). 



Scolopax arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 242 (1766). 



Numenius arquatus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 243 (1852) ; Dresser, B. Eur. 

 viii. p. 243, pi. 578 (1873) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iii. p. 499 (1883) ; Beebohiu, 

 Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 94 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. xix. (1891) ; Dixon, 

 Nests and Eggs Brit. B. p. 272 (1893) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 317 

 (1896; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 132, pi. 45 (1896); Sharpe, Cat. B. 

 Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 341 (1896). 



Geographical distribution British: The Curlew breeds on most 

 of the moors and mountains of the British Islands, and on some of the heaths 

 and wild lands in less romantic districts, as for instance in Wilts, Hants, Lincoln- 

 shire, and the Isle of Man. Its breeding grounds extend from the highlands of 

 Cornwall to the "moors" of Devon, and the hills of Somerset and Dorset; thence 

 northwards over the Welsh mountains and adjoining uplands, through the Peak 

 and the entire Pennine chain to the Cheviots. North of the Border suitable 

 districts increase, and it becomes even more widely distributed, extending to the 

 Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. The same remarks apply to 

 Ireland, where it is equally generally dispersed. In winter it seeks the coasts, 

 and is then widely distributed on all parts of the sea-board suited to its needs, 

 including the Channel Islands. Foreign : Western Palaearctic region, Ethiopian 

 region in winter. It is an accidental visitor to Iceland and the Faroes ; a sum- 

 mer resident in Scandinavia, and breeds in Eussia as far north as Riga in the 

 west, and the Volga basin in the east. Southwards it breeds in Poland, North 

 Germany, Denmark, and Holland, and is said to do so in Flanders and Brittany ; 

 whilst in the east it does so on the Kirghiz and Caucasian Steppes. It passes 

 Europe south of these limits, Asia Minor, and Persia on migration, and winters 

 in Arabia and Africa. If this species visits temperate South Africa normally, 

 there can be little doubt that it breeds there, migrating from a winter base 

 in the Ethiopian portion of the Intertropical or Priinogaean realm. It is an 

 occasional wanderer to the Azores, and the Canaries : and has been recorded 

 from the Seychelles and Aldabra Island, as well as from Reunion, Rodriguez, 

 Ainirantes, and Providence Bank. 



