2 
CUIILEW. 
main body, tlie “ Wliaaps ” (as my Highland puntman termed them), in some instances at least, drew off as 
the strangers advanced. Godwits, Plovers, Knots, and even the diminutive Dunlins, when driven from their 
quarters by the bare-legged lads and lassies who now and then invaded the flats in quest of shell-fish, would 
at times alight on the same bank, and rapidly spreading out, join in company with their larger relatives. 
The slightest alarm, however, would at once dissolve the partnership. The Godwits and Plovers, together with 
their small followers, would invariably (though in separate flocks) make for some well-known feeding-ground, 
while the Curlews, when all was again quiet, would bo seen drawn up by themselves on a distant mudbank or 
mussel-scarp. 
■\Vhile brought up for a few minutes late one evening, intently examining an immense flock collected 
by the flood-tide on a rapidly contracting space (mentally computing whether a bag of eighty or one 
hundred would be nearest the mark if the trigger were pulled), an unaccountable fluttering of wings suddenly 
caught my car ; and on looking up, a Cormorant was seen hovering with extended pinions and drooping feet 
within a yard of our heads, evidently about to settle on some part of the punt. On perceiving his mistake he 
sheared off in desperate haste, though without in the slightest degree arousing the suspicions of the usually 
watchful Curlew. 
The regularity with which this species will make its way to the mudbanks on salt-water estuaries or alon^ 
the open coast-lme as soon as the tide has fallen sufficiently to expose its food, is well known to all who have 
watched the habits of these wary birds. Though the spots to which they retire are often situated some 
distance inland, it is seldom that their accustomed quarters can be explored for any length of time before the 
flock are seen approaching. The banks near Goring, in the west of Sussex, are generally resorted to at low water 
by from fifty to one hundred Curlews. It is a strange fact that instead of making their way inland, these birds 
invariably betake themselves as the tide flows to the shingle-banks near Shoreham Harbour. Their usual station 
IS on the ridge of the bank just above high -water mark. At times they will spread over the wide expanse of 
shingle-flats, but a few are always left to guard against a surprise by way of the sea. During the night some of 
their number at times appear on the mudflats in Shoreham Harbour; but their daily routine all the^year round 
consists of half their time on the flats at Goring and the remainder on the shingle-banks. If disturbed, they 
make their way out to sea, and occasionally fly some distance along the coast, though in less than half an hour 
they are again seeking to alight on some portion of their accustomed haunts. All through the summer moutlis I 
have for many years watclied these birds in the same locality ; there is occasionally in winter a slight increase 
in their numbers. 
Curlews while on flight are commonly mistaken for Geese or Ducks by tliose unacquainted with their 
habits. At times they proceed in a long string in single file, and occasionally for a short distance in the < form 
similar to wild Geese ; while not unfrequently they may be seen pursuing their course without the slightest 
attempt at order, every bird in the ranks from time to time shifting its position. It is seldom that a flock is in 
view for many minutes without some changes in the formation being noticed. Though not as a rule joining 
in company with other species, it occasionally happens that a few stray Godwits, Grey Plovers, or other small 
H aders may be discerned in the line during their passage from one feeding-ground to another. Every wildfowl- 
shooter must have constantly observed the small size of some of the passing flock, though a powerful 
glass and a clear sky are necessary to ascertain the identity of the interlopers witli any degree of certainty. 
This species is by no means so frequent a visitor as might be expected to the rJsh-grown marshes ‘in the 
eastern counties. Put few flocks of any extent have come under my notice in this district, though at times 
when the hills are flooded small parties may be seen (but more frequently heard) dying over. I repeatedly 
remarked that it was almost invariably during rough and stormy weather, or with impending floods, that the few 
Curlews ever making their appearance were observed in the neighbourhood of the broads of the east of Norfolk, 
ese biids aie exceediiigh jealous of any stranger, feathered or otherwise, aiiproaching their quarters. 
