Tlw Redshank. 361 



ounces ; and is found in winter on the sea-shore on all 

 sides of England. The middle parts of the feathers of 

 the head, neck, and back are black, the borders or out- 

 sides ash-coloured, with a mixture of red ; and the lower 

 .part of the body white. The beak has a regular curve 

 downward, and is soft at the point. This bird's flesh 

 may challenge for flavour and delicacy that of any other 

 water-fowl, and the people of Suffolk say proverbially : 



" A Curlew, be she white, be she black, 

 She carries twelve pence on her back :" 



but it must be confessed that the quality and goodness 

 of the flesh of Curlews depend on their manner of feed- 

 ing, and the season in which they are caught. When 

 they dwell on the sea-shore, they acquire a kind of 

 rankness, which is so strong, that, unless they are 

 basted on the spit with vinegar, they are not agreeable, 

 eating. 



THE REDSHANK. (Tatanus calidris.) 



THIS bird has received its name from the colour of its 

 legs, which are of a crimson red. In size it is between 

 the lapwing and the snipe, and is sometimes called the 

 Pool Snipe. The head and back are of a dusky ash- 

 colour, spotted with black, the throat party-coloured 

 black and white, the black being drawn down along the 

 feathers. The breast is whiter, with fewer spots. The 

 Redshank delights in the fen countries, and in wet and 

 marshy grounds, where it breeds and rears its young. 



