A MARSH WALK IN MAY 21 



are strong on the wing, and both young and old 

 assemble in flocks, they betake themselves to the 

 coast, where, in the harbours at low water, or on 

 the sands during an ebbing tide, they may be seen 

 busily feeding on small mollusca, fish, and shrimps, 

 of which they seem very fond, but which impart a 

 strong, disagreeable flavour to the bird when 

 cooked. For this reason Redshanks, if wanted for 

 the table (and they are excellent eating), should 

 be always secured before they get down to the salt 

 water. They are then as good as Snipe. The 

 same remark applies to the Curlew, which breeds 

 upon the moors and comes down to the coast in 

 autumn. According to the old distich, 



" A Curlew, be she white or black. 

 Carries twelve pence on her back," 



referring to the market value of a bird which was 

 formerly much esteemed for the table. It is not 

 unlikely that the "Black Curlew" may have been 

 the Glossy Ibis, which has a Curlew-like bill, and 

 which, before the drainage of the great fens in 

 Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, 

 was more frequently met with than at the present 

 day. Lubbock, in his Fauna of Norfolk, written 

 in 1845, says: " Fifty years back the Glossy Ibis 

 was seen often enough to be known to gunners and 

 fishermen as the Black Curlew." 



Following the straight course of a long dyke, 

 wherein a yellow fringe of last year's reeds uncut 

 afford shelter to several Reed Warblers (which, how- 

 ever, have not yet commenced to build), we are 



