124 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 



gun fired 8 02. of shot. He managed to circumvent them in 

 moonlight, which, I believe, is the best time to shoot curlews 

 with a punt. I have been close to very large flocks of curlew 

 in moonlight, but on all occasions the birds were much 

 scattered, the resting ground being extensive. To make a 

 good punt shot at curlews, they should be on a long ridge 

 of cockle shells and sand, crowding together at high water. 

 For my own part, I do not think much of the curlew as an 

 edible bird in winter, so that even when the best punt shots 

 can be made at them I do not trouble about them. Moreover, 

 curlews and ducks are but seldom shot together. 



Some years ago I made a few notes on the weights of heavy 

 curlews and the lengths of their bills. The heaviest curlew I 

 secured turned the scale at 2 lb. 9 oz. This bird was an old 

 female, and had a bill 7J in. long, measured from the gape. 

 Thinking this an abnormally large one, I referred to it in print, 

 and a few weeks later I was told that the weight of my bird 

 could not be claimed as abnormal, since several curlews of that 

 weight had been shot. Not having by me sufficient data, I 

 did not make reply at the time, but resolved to take further 

 notes. These have since shown that my critic must either have 

 secured exceptionally large curlews or had not weighed his 

 birds accurately. Possibly he may have weighed them when 

 saturated with salt water. I have known a wet curlew turn the 

 scale at 3 lb. When dry it weighed only 2j lb. During the 

 last three seasons I have shot with my own shoulder gun 

 during autumn and winter exactly 214 curlews, all in England, 

 and from this number I have collected my notes. On October 

 3rd, 1906, during one tide, my brother and I secured fifty-six 

 curlews with shoulder guns. The heaviest bird in this lot 

 did not exceed 2 lb. 5 oz. I have observed that the bag has 

 sometimes contained all young curlews, whilst on other 

 occasions all have been old birds. The chief object of my 

 investigations was to determine the average weight of adult 



