Descriptive List of the Common Birds 
wings. The beak is black and the long legs 
are dark grey. 
Wherever there is shallow water there may 
the avocet be found wading in winter, for it 
is only a winter visitor to India. It does not 
appear to be very common anywhere. 
The Curlews, 189 and 190 
189. Numenius arquata: The Curlew. (F. 
1454), (J- 877); (V.) 
This well-known bird is about the size of a 
kite, and except for the white chin and throat 
its colouring is rather like that of the kite. 
But here all resemblance to the kite ceases. 
The curlew is a long-shanked wading bird, 
with a curved bill half a foot in length, the 
curve in this case being downwards instead of 
upwards as in the avocet. It has a wild, 
plaintive cry. 
It is a winter visitor to India. 
190. Numenius pheopus: ‘The Whimbrel. 
(F. 1455), (J. 878), (+1V; about midway 
between the crow and the kite.) 
This is a small edition of the curlew, but 
differs from it in having a white band along the 
middle of the head. Its curved bill is only a 
205 
