COMMON CURLEW 815 



down upon one of their number which he had wounded and was 

 pursuing, and, taking its wings in their beaks, raised it, and bore it 

 away out to sea beyond his reach. The case of the curlew reminds 

 us rather of the action of the rhinoceros-bird in waking the rhinoceros 

 on the appearance of an enemy ; but between curlew and seal there 

 is no such thing as commensalism. and no tie, excepting the common 

 knowledge that they are living creatures, and must fly for life at the 

 approach of man, their deadliest enemy, on account of his superior 

 cunning and his power to slay them at long distances. 



During a greater part of the year the curlew is a shore-bird, 

 seeking its food on the sand-flats which become covered at high 

 water. When the tide overflows the flats the birds go inland, often 

 to a distance of several miles from the sea, and wait there until the 

 tide turns. They appear to know just when this occurs, however 

 far from the shore they may be, and, rising and calling to each 

 other, set out on their return, to arrive at the exact time when feed- 

 ing may begin. It is during these journeys to and fro between the 

 sea and the moors that the curlew looks at his best when, seen at 

 a moderate distance, he passes in small flocks, disposed in the form 

 of a wedge, or letter V, his sharp-pointed wings and long, ibis-like beak 

 clearly outlined against the blue sky. To most lovers of nature and 

 wild bird life the voice of the curlew is his principal attraction. He 

 is very loquacious, and his ordinary cry of two notes, from which 

 he takes his name, is singularly clear, far-reaching, and wild in 

 character. His night cries have given rise to some curious and 

 gloomy superstitions in Scotland, where the curlew is called * whaup.' 

 According to Yarrell, the bird is a ' long-nebbit thing,' from which 

 the Highlander prays to be delivered, classing it with ' witches and 

 warlocks.' In the same work we read : ' Saxby says that the Shet- 

 landers regard with horror the very idea of using so uncanny a bird 

 as food ; in fact, a visitor who did so was afterwards alluded to, 

 almost in a whisper, as " the man that ate the whaup." ' Long may 

 the ' long-nebbit things ' continue to exist, to delight and invigorate 

 us with their wild voices 1 



In spring early in April as a rule the curlews begin to forsake 

 their feeding-grounds on the sandbanks and go inland to breed ; but 

 some unpaired or non-breeding birds remain through the summer 

 by the sea. Wild extensive moors are its favourite summer haunts. 

 1 Its breeding-range, 1 Seebohm says, ' is similar to that of the red 

 grouse and ring-ouzel.' Its nesting-place, as a rule, is on the flat 

 and boggy parts of the moor, and the nest is not unfrequently 



