96 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



estimates its speed on certain occasions to be not 

 less than a mile a minute, and possibly very 

 much more ! Although the Curlew repeatedly 

 wades, it is not known to swim under normal 

 circumstances, but has occasionally been seen 

 to perch in a tree. All through the autumn and 

 winter the Curlew continues gregarious. It 

 migrates in vast flocks, and frequently associates 

 with other wild fowl, although it may be that 

 these other and smaller species seek its company 

 to profit by its extraordinary vigilance. Sand- 

 worms, crustaceans, and molluscs form its 

 principal food whilst living on the coast, but 

 in summer, at its breeding-grounds, worms, grubs, 

 insects, ground fruits, and berries are eaten. The 

 European form of the Curlew is pretty generally 

 distributed over the western half of the Palaearctic 

 region, and in winter is found throughout Africa. 



The Curlew begins to leave the coast for more 

 or less inland haunts in March, scattering over 

 most of our swampy moorlands and rough higher 

 grounds to breed. The eggs are laid during April 

 and May. The nest is invariably made upon the 

 ground, and consists merely of a shallow cavity, 

 lined with a few bits of withered herbage or dead 

 leaves. Numbers of pairs often nest within a 

 comparatively small area of suitable ground, and 

 should one pair be disturbed, the entire community 

 is soon thrown into a state of alarm. The four 

 eggs of the Curlew vary from olive-green to 



