COMMON CURLEW. 645 



from is Skipwith Common, where eggs were found on 8th 

 May 1901, and a pair of birds was observed in the spring 

 of 1902. 



In March the coast Curlews begin to leave their winter 

 resorts and repair to the nesting grounds ; by 'the middle or 

 latter end of April nidification commences, eggs being found 

 from that time onward till the end of May. A clutch contain- 

 ing the unusual complement of five was taken near Sedbergh, 

 and I have seen one other of that number also taken in north- 

 west Yorkshire. The earliest date of which I have note of 

 young being observed is 7th May, in the year 1903. 



Though not classed amongst perching birds, the Curlew, 

 like several other waders, is occasionally known to depart from 

 its ordinary habits ; in April 1904 I saw one alight on a stone 

 wall bordering a moor near Harrogate, where it remained for 

 some minutes whilst I was in the vicinity ; and a few days 

 afterwards, on the same moor, my wife saw one perch on a 

 post and stand preening its feathers for some considerable 

 time. 



The celebrated Yorkshire ornithologist, Marmaduke 

 Tunstall, in 1784 refers to the old proverb as to the value 

 of this bird : 



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

 She carries twelve pence on her back." 



and it is somewhat remarkable that this price should have 

 been paid for " Kyrlewes " so long ago as the year 1512, 

 as noted in the Northumberland Household Book, while 

 other birds, esteemed by us as delicacies, are put at a much 

 lower figure, as for instance, Woodcocks being id., and 

 Mallards and Partridges 2d., though in the year 1560, in the 

 value of " Wildfowl at Hull," the price is fixed for a " Cour- 

 lewe 6d." 



The only local vernacular name by which it is known 

 is Whaup 



