THE CUKLEW 



* 

 (Numenius arquatus) 



THERE is not perhaps another science which leads its votaries 

 into so many varied scenes as that of Ornithology. The bird is 

 everywhere. ~No desert is too arid, no ice-bound region too cold, 

 nor sunny land too warm, for bird-life. Even the ornithologist 

 who studies the birds of our native land alone will be led into 

 the most diversified scenes whilst pursuing his researches, and 

 experience those indescribable feelings of enthusiasm and 

 excitement only known to the field naturalist. Now he is 

 wandering over the trackless moors in quest of Grouse or 

 Merlins. Alone he may be on those heathery wastes, but 

 his thoughts are so intent upon the object of his visit that he 

 knows not that sense of loneliness which the wilds ever inspire 

 in him who has no taste for Nature or her works. Anon he 

 is in the coppices or the fir woods, where the bold and wary 

 Sparrow-hawks, the crafty Pies, and the gentle Doves, nestle 

 in company with the tiny Goldcrests. Now he roams over 

 the tide-washed flats, and the hordes of wild-fowl greet him 

 with their varied and expressive cries ; or he seeks the rock- 

 bound coast where the Guillemot, the Eazorbill, the Kitti- 

 wake, and the Peregrine breed in the beetling cliffs. While 

 yet again the shady forest teems with bird-life, and his 

 wanderings there are enlivened by the notes of birds whose 

 inherent timidity keeps them to these leafy solitudes. No 

 matter where the observer may stray, bird-life in all its ever- 



