COMMON CURLEW. 613 



his Black Dwarf (chap, ii.), in a dialogue between Hobbie 

 Elliott and Earns-cliff, in the evening on Mucklestane Moor : 

 the former says, " What need I care for the Mucklestane 

 Moor ony mair than ye do yoursel, Earns-cliff? to be sure 

 they say there 's a sort o' worricows and lang nebbit things 

 about the land, but what need I care for them ? " and this 

 enables us to understand the fag end of a Highlander's 

 prayer to be saved harmless, " from witches, warlocks, * 

 and aw lang-nebbed things." 



The Curlew inhabits Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and 

 the southern part of Russia during summer. In Norway 

 Mr. Hewitson and the party with him were surprised to 

 see this long-legged bird alight on the top of a pine, and 

 frequently afterwards pass from tree to tree uttering its 

 loud note. This bird also in summer visits the Faroe 

 Islands and Iceland. In an account of the Faroe Islands 

 it is stated that the Curlew even winters occasionally in 

 the most southern of these islands, where the bays are 

 never covered with ice, except in the coldest years ; nor 

 does the snow cover the ground above a week at a time, 

 and is never deep. 



The nest of the Curlew is slight : a few leaves or other 

 dry materials, carelessly brought together among long 

 grass or heath, or in a tuft of rushes, is all that appears. 

 The eggs are four in number, pear shaped, and generally 

 placed with the smaller ends together : the egg measures 

 two inches seven lines in length, by one inch eleven lines 

 in breadth, and is of an olive-green, blotched and spotted 

 with darker green and dark brown. The young run almost 

 as soon as hatched, but are unable to fly for a considerable 

 time. In confinement these birds become tame enough to 

 follow their feeder for the usual meal, and Montagu ob- 



* A warlock, or wizzard, a man who is supposed to be in compact with 

 the devil. Jamieson's Dictionary. 



