so 



ELBMElfTS OF OEBITHOLOGT. 



a family found in both the Old World and the New, and con- 

 sisting of five species. As their curious biU would suggest, they 

 wade into the water in search of food. There is one European 

 species, and this bred in England down to about 1670, and even 

 now a few birds seem each year to "visit us in spite of their 



Fig. 49. 



The Courser (Ctirsorim gallieiis). 



unremitting destruction by the curious, and even by ornitholo- 

 gists not ashamed of saying that thus a specimen of a rare 

 British Bird has been by them " obtained " ! 



A well-known English Bird, the beak of which is not flat- 

 tened but elongate and curved, is the Curlew (Nvmenius armatus) ; 

 and it is to be found in winter on almost every part of our 



