COMMON CURLEW. 581 



Besides the localities and countries already mentioned, 

 Dr. Andrew Smith brought specimens from southern Africa, 

 and the bird is found in various parts of the south of 

 Europe. Mr. Strickland includes it among the birds seen 

 by him at Smyrna, and M. Hohenacker found it in the 

 countries bordering on the Caucasus. Our bird is found in 

 Nepal and Calcutta ; and M. Temminck says the European 

 Curlew is found at Pondicherry, Japan, and the Islands 

 of the Indian Archipelago, where another Curlew is also 

 found that is still larger than our bird, and has a longer 

 and more slender bill. Mr. Gould mentions having re- 

 ceived skins of our Curlew from China. 



The plumage of the male and female is very similar. 

 The beak is dark brown, except the basal portion of the 

 under mandible, which is pale brown ; the irides dark 

 brown ; head and neck pale brown, the centre of each 

 feather bearing a longitudinal streak of dark brown ; the 

 feathers on the upper part of the back brownish black, with 

 pale brown edges; the lower part of the back and the 

 rump white ; upper tail-coverts white, with a lanceolate 

 streak of dark brown towards the end ; tail-feathers barred 

 with dark brown and dull white ; the smaller wing-coverts 

 blackish brown with almost white edges, making this part 

 of the wings appear lighter in colour than the back ; the 

 greater wing-coverts and the first five primary quill-feathers 

 black, the latter with white shafts ; the secondary wing- 

 feathers and the tertials blackish brown in the centre, and 

 barred transversely on the edges with dark and light 

 brown ; the chin white ; front of the neck and upper part 

 of the breast pale brown, streaked longitudinally with dark 

 brown ; lower part of the breast nearly white, and spotted 

 rather than streaked with dark brown ; vent and under 

 tail-coverts white, the latter with an occasional duskv 



