CURLEW 
or southward way. He is a large bird, and his 
long legs and neck and, in particular, that con- 
spicuous, long, curved bill give him an additional 
air of size and distinction ; while his mottled 
brown plumage is unmistakably handsome in a 
quiet fashion, though in no way ambitious or gaudy. 
The Curlew breeds in April or early in May ; the 
rough, scanty nest of dry grass or rusty heather 
stems is placed among the heather or in rough 
grass ; the birds seem particularly fond of the 
large patches of dense tussocky grass, unmixed 
with heather, which often lie high on the mountain 
sides, just beneath the last ascent to the summit. 
The eggs are not always very closely concealed ; 
they are four in number, and a good deal pointed 
in shape ; their ground-colour is green, and they 
are spotted with brown in two or three different 
shades. While he stays in his summer quarters 
the Curlew feeds on slugs, snails, insects, and 
berries ; but after he migrates to the sea-shore he 
adopts a diet of shell-fish and other small sea 
creatures, and his flesh then becomes very rank and 
fishy. Curlews are almost the most difficult of all 
birds to approach, and they seem to delight in 
giving the alarm, with their musical, ringing cry, to 
all the other birds in the neighbourhood. The 
cry recalls some of the notes of the Plover, but is 
far more free and powerful j and it always challenges 
