THE STONE-CURLEW 249 



renderings have been given of the cries of the stone-curlew. Mr. 

 Selous uses dew-leep for the shrill cry heard so much in the daytime, 

 and which is uttered on the ground. 1 To me it is more like dhu-le-eep, 

 the first syllables very short and the last long drawn out and ending 

 in a squeal. The note I have written cour-li-vee Mr. Selous puts tur- 

 li-vee ; 2 it is very well expressed by a French writer Valmont Bomare, 

 quoted by Macgillivray tarlui or courlis? All these expressions 

 serve equally well to one familiar with the cries. The question is, 

 are such formulae worth attempting, as likely to give an adequate 

 idea or impression of the notes to one who has never heard them ? 

 The full wailing cry, called locally the clamour, is not perfect when the 

 birds first arrive in this country, but it gradually gains in strength 

 and clearness, and from May on to the time they leave us in the 

 autumn it may be heard at night ringing across the heaths in its full 

 glory. All these notes are variants of the same, and may be described 

 as wailing cries rather than whistling. There is a cry, however, 

 of remarkable carrying power which may be described as a monoto- 

 nous whistle on one note, repeated at regular intervals throughout 

 the nesting season ; and a whistling note may occasionally be heard, 

 more especially in the autumn, and, according to Mr. Selous, " when 

 the birds are flying in great numbers preparatory to migration." 4 

 It is a quavering note suggestive of certain spring notes of some 

 other Waders, e.g. curlew, oystercatcher, or redshank. 



The autumn migration commences in October, the majority of 

 the birds apparently leaving together about the middle of the month ; 

 others follow gradually until by the end of the month nearly all are 

 gone. Odd birds may occasionally remain throughout the winter, as 

 I have records of their occurrence for the months of December, 

 January, and February, and it is said that in Cornwall and S. Devon 

 a few linger throughout the winter every year. 5 



1 Bird-life Glimpses, p. 125. * Ibid. 



1 Macgillivray, British Birds, vol. iv. p. 81. 4 Bird-life Glimpses, p. 126. 



5 Saunders, Manual of British Birds, p. 529. 



