70 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



part of their backs shows very conspicuously. They 

 Have a sharper flight even than the Great Curlew ; 

 not many are brought to bag in the season, either 

 of Jacks or full Curlews ; in some parts and seasons 

 not a dozen, all told. 



THE GREAT CURLEW. 



{Numenius arquata.) 



Male. — The bill is flesh colour at the base, the 

 rest black ; iris brown. The head and neck are 

 light yellowish-red, tinged with grey, each feather 

 having a central blackish-brown streak ; the fore- 

 part of back and scapulars are darker, the dark 

 markings broader, and continued to the tip of the 

 feathers. Small wing coverts lighter, but similarly 

 marked ; primary coverts brownish-black, with the 

 tips white ; primary quills are deep brown, the first 

 with a white shaft. The first five quills are un- 

 spotted on the outer web, the rest spotted ; back 

 white, with lengthened dark marks ; upper tail' 

 coverts barred with black. The tail is white, tinged 

 with red towards the end, having twelve brownish- 

 black bands ; breast, sides, and belly white, the first 

 spotted, the second with broader spots and bars ; 

 legs and feet blue grey. The bird's length, from tip 

 of bill to end of tail, is twenty -five inches. 



The female is similar to the male in her plumage. 

 These birds vary in size ; some reach twenty-seven 

 inches. 



