CURLEW. 195 



as the arctic circle : it is rarely known that it breeds in the 

 immediate vicinity of the sea. The nest consists of a slight 

 hole scratched in the sand, or in peat earth, and is lined with 

 small twigs of heath about a finger's length. The number of 

 eggs in each nest is generally four, in size and colour as 

 represented in our plate. While the female sits on the 

 eggs, the male is not far distant. The young nestlings are 

 no sooner out of the shell and dry, but they run about ; 

 and if an enemy approaches them, they lie down among the 

 most uneven part of the ground, and so close as to allow 

 themselves to be trodden to death without moving from 

 the spot. The parent birds run all the while round about the 

 enemy, in the hope of enticing him away. As soon as the 

 young are able to fly, they are left to shift for themselves. 



The greatest enemy the Curlew has is the peregrine 

 falcon ; and unless the Curlew can reach a piece of water 

 in which it can dive, the perseverance of the falcon soon 

 enables him to tire out his prey, and master it. Young 

 birds suffer most from the fox. 



The measurements of the Curlew differ so much, that 

 we give them from a fine specimen that was killed on the 

 Suffolk coast by a friend, and from which our drawing 

 was made. In length it was twenty-four inches : the beak, 

 nearly six inches; tarsus, three inches and a quarter; the 

 naked part of the tibia, one inch and two lines ; the wing, 

 from the carpus to the tip, eleven inches and a quarter. 

 The feathering of the adult male is as follows : — The head, 

 neck, and breast pale grey, tinged with rufous ; the shafts 

 and central part of the feathers dusky : upper part of the 

 back and scapulars, dusky ; the feathers broadly edged with 

 burnt-umber and brown ochre : the lower part of the back 

 white, with black shaft-streaks : the tail is white, trans- 

 versely barred with dusky brown and ochre-yellow : lower 



