NUMENIUS LINEATUS. 909 



the wild fliglit-cry koi-oirr. When " beached " in my sailing-canoe some distance from land on a moonlight 

 night I have listened to these assemblies and heard the noise of thousands of Sandpipers, Curlews, Crab- 

 Plovers, &c., gradually increasing as the tide receded, and the ripple of the water against the bottom of my 

 frail craft ceased by degrees, until I was " high and dry," and all was still save the mingled voices of the 

 myriads of birds around me. The flight of the Curlew is powerful and performed with regular beatings of 

 the wings ; when alarmed it is capable of proceeding with great speed ; and when a flock are together it is a 

 fine sight to see them swerve about in their headlong course, turning first to one side and then the other. When 

 alighting they descend sometimes with great rapidity towards the ground, with half-closed wings, which they 

 spread out on nearing the earth, and so check their course. When walking, the Curlew has rather an awkward 

 appearance j its body is nearly horizontal and its bill pointed downwards ready to snap up its food. It takes 

 little runs of a few paces when catching the sand-flies, mollusks, sea-worms, &c. which it feeds upon, and at 

 other times stalks leisurely about. When winged it runs with considerable speed while being pursued. It 

 maintains its characteristic shyness everywhere, for Layard remarks of it in South Africa that it rarely falls to 

 the gun of the sportsman. Its flesh is in general fishy in taste, and is always inferior to that of the Whinibrel. 



I know nothing of the nidification of this species. Prjevalsky says that he found it breeding in the 

 Hoang-ho valley in small numbers, and also at Lake Hanka ; but no details of its nesting are given. The 

 eggs are, in all probability, similar to those of the European form, which are dusky olive, blotched and spotted 

 with brown, and measure about 2'6 inches by 1*8. 



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