152 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



other hand, has increased considerably during the same period, and 

 the Pied (M. Ivgubris), too, seems to be holding its own. The Grey — 

 a great favourite of mine — is one that I grieve to find decreasing, for 

 of all the graceful birds it surely must be admitted to be the most 

 graceful, and perhaps, too, one of the most beautiful. Will other 

 North -countrymen communicate their views anent its comparative 

 scarcity or otherwise ? — W. H. Parkin (Studholme, Shipley, Yorks). 



Curlews carrying their Young. — Last June a friend, , '*•<* 

 Great Salkeld, Cumberland, writing to a local newspaper, says :— -• 

 " I had rather a strange experience with a young Curlew during the 

 month. The Curlews had nested on the lower slopes of Wan Fell 

 [close by Salkeld] , and when the young were hatched they came into 

 the fields near my house. I was very curious to know how the young 

 birds managed to find the gates so as to get from one field to another, 

 as the fields are mostly surrounded by stone walls, and so quite impass- 

 able for the young birds ; and on one occasion I saw one young bird 

 in a small potato-field surrounded by stone walls on three sides, whilst 

 the fourth side was protected by wire-netting, equally impassable for 

 the young one. I could not see how it was possible for the young bird 

 to get in itself. I questioned the man who farmed the field, thinking 

 it possible that he had placed it in there to destroy the insect pests, 

 but he denied having done so, and said the old birds must have 

 brought it in, as he was sure that they carried their young about from 

 place to place. I have never seen them carrying their young, but have 

 often wondered how the young, whilst still incapable of flight, have 

 been conveyed over considerable distances in a very short time. This 

 could be easily accounted for if the old birds actually do carry them. 

 On mentioning the matter to my brother, he said he had noticed 

 a Curlew coming from the top of Lazonby Fell one evening with 

 a large lump, either held in its bill or pressed between its bill and 

 breast, and it had gone down to a favourite swampy spot to feed. It 

 is well known that Woodcocks carry their young from place to place, 

 so that it is quite possible that Curlews do the same, and I shall be 

 much obliged if anyone can give me any information on this matter." 

 Perhaps some of the readers of ' The Zoologist ' will be able to throw 

 some light on this interesting subject, as I can find no reference in my 

 works on ornithology to the Curlew carrying its young, though in 'The 

 Zoologist' for 1888, p. 301, there is an instance of a Golden Plover, 

 and for 1892, p. 360. of a Lapwing, both of which are reported as 

 using this method of defending their young. — T. C. Parker (Carleton 

 Derick, Penrith). 



