SOME ILLUSTRATIVE EXPERIENCES 125 
curlews. To do so I took on three different occasions six 
birds, consisting of three heavy and three light specimens, 
selected from the bag. The aggregate weight of each lot of 
six ran: 10}1b., 11 lb., and 11} 1b., so that the average weight of 
a curlew is less than 2 lb. Many curlews, however, reach 2 lb. 
6 oz., but one over this weight is exceptional. Young curlews, 
just after leaving the moors, average about 1} lb. I have seen 
others in good condition shot on the coast, scale no more than 
17 oz. Out of the 214 curlews above mentioned, not one had 
a bill exceeding 63 in., though several reached this length. To 
arrive at an average I selected six birds—an adult female, 
6 in. ; a young male, 4 in. ; a young female, 44 in. ; an adult 
male, 5 in. ; a small adult female, 5% in. ; a large adult female, 
6% in. Thus there resulted an average length of 54 in. This 
autumn I measured the bills of forty curlews shot during 
September, and found the average to fall 1-16 in. short of that 
stated above. In concluding these brief remarks on the 
weights and bill lengths of curlews, I feel safe in stating that a 
curlew over 24 lb. is an exceptionally large one, while a bill 
over 63 in. is well above the ordinary length. Curlews shot in 
autumn are usually palatable if properly roasted. In mid- 
winter, however, they are not nearly so good ; in fact, they are 
then often quite fishy and rank. 
