190 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



his bird if he be fortunate or skilful enough to creep up and make a lucky shot. 

 When feeding, the birds are seldom still, but run and walk about searching for 

 their food in the sand and rocks close to the waves, and all the time sentinels seem 

 ever on the watch to sound the warning note, which sends the big speckled birds 

 hurrying away to safer haunts. If fired at, the flock often rises to a good height 

 and flies about in a restless manner, the birds calling to each other all the time. 

 When on regular flight, a flock of these birds usually assumes the shape of the 

 letter V, and as they pass along at great speed the leading bird from time to time 

 drops out of position, and its place is taken by another in turn. During moon- 

 light nights when the state of the tide admits, the Curlew is as active as by day, 

 and feeds on the flats and saltings ; and even during summer on the inland 

 moors their wild, mournful notes may be heard through every hour of darkness. 

 The flight of this bird is rapid and strong, the neck is outstretched, and the long 

 legs are pressed close to the body and extend beyond the tail. The long wings 

 are beaten with great speed and regularity, but very often just before the bird 

 alights they are held stiff and expanded. I have often noticed that this species 

 runs a little way with wings half open before rising into the air. It is frequently 

 seen to wade in the shallows, but never, I think, swims unless wounded, whilst 

 it has been known to perch in trees. The usual note of the Curlew is very 

 characteristic — a shrill, far-sounding curlee, curlee ; and during the breeding 

 season the bird also utters a very peculiar rippling note, almost like bubbling 

 water, which may he expressed as loiw-i-wiw-i-wiw, rapidly repeated. For the 

 greater part of the year the Curlew is more or less gregarious, and also associates 

 with many other shore birds ; but during the breeding season, although many 

 pairs often nest on the same moor or upland waste, they are not very social. 

 The food of the Curlew varies a good deal according to season. In summer, 

 worms, insects and their larvae, and various ground fruits and berries are eaten ; 

 in winter, sandworms, crustaceans, and mollusks are the principal fare, and 

 various vegetable fragments have been found in the birds' stomach during the 

 latter period. Although a resident with us, the Curlew is a regular bird of passage 

 in many Continental districts, coming to its summer quarters in April and May, 

 and returning during September and October. 



Nidification. — in March the Curlew begins to return to its inland breed- 

 ing places, and the eggs are laid during April and May. Its great breeding 

 grounds are the wild, swampy moors at a considerable elevation above sea-level ; 

 but many birds nest on the rough fallows near the moors, and I have known 

 their eggs to be broken during spring tilling. The nest is generally made on 

 some dry patch of the moor, often under the shelter of a little bush or tuft of 

 cotton-grass or rush, or yet again on the bare earth of the fallows, sometimes in 

 a footprint of a horse or cow. This nest is very slight, merely a hollow about 

 ten inches in diameter and two inches in depth, sparingly lined with a few scraps 



