OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 191 



of dead herbage or dry leaves ; in some cases no nest whatever is made. The 

 eggs are four in number, pyriform in shape, and various shades of olive-green or 

 buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with olive-brown and pale grey. 

 Sometimes a few streaky scratches of blackish-brown occur. They measure on 

 an average 2'7 inches in length by T85 inch in breadth. Both parents assist in 

 the task of incubation, which lasts about a month. When its breeding grounds 

 are invaded by man, the Curlew becomes very noisy, usually flying into the air 

 long before the spot where the nest is situated is reached. One bird is usually 

 on the look-out and conveys the warning to its mate ; the cry is taken up by 

 other birds, and soon the whole moor is in a state of commotion. One brood 

 only is reared in the year. 



Diagnostic characters. Numenius, with no pale mesial line, with 

 the lower back and rump white, and with the metatarsus more than three 

 inches in length. Length, 21 to 26 inches. 



