360 CHAKADKIID^ 



they remain on the coast throughout the summer. An 

 influx of birds, migrating northward, takes place in spring 

 (March and April), when the loud cries of thousands may 

 be heard in the darkness of the night at a considerable 

 altitude. 1 When these travellers sojourn on our coasts for 

 a short time, they mass into great throngs which are main- 

 tained as they continue their journey northward. But in 

 addition, many are resident, or at least breed in the British 

 Isles. These usually retire inland to their nesting-sites, 

 some weeks before the spring-migrants arrive, and return 

 to the coast about the middle of July. 



Partial though this species may be to low-lying and 

 sandy coasts, it also searches among the fucus-covered rocks 

 and shingle for food. In fact, few localities come amiss to 

 its adaptable habits, provided that human traffic is not too 

 great. 



The Curlew is eagerly sought for by the gunner, being 

 a bird of considerable size, and fit for table-use.' 2 It 

 is exceptionally wary and restless, and can seldom be 

 approached within gunshot-range on open ground. I have 

 watched numbers (from behind a large rock) alight at 

 their feeding-grounds, often only forty yards from me. I 

 have noted how hundreds, congregated on the remote 

 Atlantic-facing shores of Western Kerry, would quit the 

 beach as the tide advanced, and fly over the cliffs, several 

 hundred feet high, to the ploughed fields in search of earth- 

 worms, 3 a favourite meal. 



On one occasion, I observed a Curlew alight on a small 

 ledge on the face of a cliff in the co. Galway, where it 

 crouched with a flock of clamorous Jackdaws and Kitti- 

 wakes, to escape the notice of a Peregrine that was lurking 

 overhead. 



Curlews frequently disperse themselves over the shores 

 and islands of inland lakes and rivers, occasionally perching 

 on tree-stumps, and even among the higher branches. 

 Though active night-feeders, it is remarkable how feebly 



1 On these great migration-nights, the cries of several familiar 

 species, e.g., Kedshanks, Pee-wits, Ringed Plovers, and others, may be 

 heard mingled with the more powerful Curlew's whistle. 



- The flesh of old Curlews which have inhabited the sea-beach for 

 several successive seasons, is liable to be fishy and unpalatable. 



3 I have shot many Curlews in ploughed fields with their mouths 

 and gullets packed with wriggling earth-worms. 



