Curlew. 415 



tion of the birds of which he writes : * The bill of a Curlew is a 

 mere bundle of delicate nerves of the most sensitive order 

 enclosed in a thin skin : by reason of this tender soft bill it feels 

 the effect of frost sooner than any other bird. Their bill being 

 adapted for feeding on soft ground only accounts for their 

 preference for the mud of estuaries and harbours, and for their 

 seeking the oozy flats just uncovered by the tide. But how 

 Curlews can tell from inland fields, farYrom and out of sight of 

 the tide, the exact moment to make for the shore, is more than 

 I can guess at. But they are more regular in repairing to their 

 haunts than any other birds. To the minute they will desert 

 the moors and meadows to leave for the coast : and they fall 

 arrive just as the ooze is sufficiently uncovered to enable them 

 to get their food whilst wading. I have watched them, several 

 miles from the tide, cease feeding, call to one another, collect, 

 and then point for the sea, and this, too, at the very moment I 

 knew the shallows must be nearly exposed. Spring tides they 

 will hit off exactly, never late, always on the spot just as the 

 banks begin to show. They may at these times be seen travelling 

 in long strings to their favourite haunts.'* In Continental 

 languages it bears the title of ' Great,' in reference to its congener 

 the ' Whimbrel,' next to be mentioned. Thus in France it is 

 Grand Courlis cendre; in Germany, Grosse Brachvogel, 'Great 

 Fallow-Bird ;' in Italy, Chiurlo maggiore ; in Spain, Chorlito real; 

 in Portugal, Magarwo real ; in Sweden, Stor-Spof. 



151. WHIMBREL (Numenius phceopus.) 



Doubtless this bird is often confounded with the preceding, to 

 which it bears a very close resemblance in all points, and from 

 which it differs in little else than in size. It is about one-third 

 less than its congener, and hence has derived the names of Half- 

 Curlew and Jack-Curlew. The first instance I adduce of its 

 occurrence in Wilts is the specimen in the Kev. George Marsh's 

 collection, which was obtained in his own parish in 1838, killed 

 in Sutton Mead, where it had been observed alone for some time. 

 * ' The Fowler in Ireland,' pp. 232-237. 



