174 
British Birds. 
is gregarious in its habits, large numbers nesting in company in marshes. The food 
consists largely of gnats and mosquitoes as well as of water-beetles and small shell- 
fish. The nest is made of small bents of grass or dead reeds. The eggs are three 
or four in number, very similar to those of the Avocets, and measure an inch-and-a- 
half to an inch-and-three-quarters in length. 
The Common Curlew. 
THE COMMON 
CURLEW. 
( Numcnius arquatus.) 
With the Curlews we commence the study of a large group 
of Wading-Birds belonging to the Sub-family Totanina. They 
have a long bill, often curved, and the tarsus is transversely 
plated before and behind, though in the true Curlews the hinder 
aspect of the tarsus is reticulated. Both the outer and inner toe are joined to the 
middle one by a basal membrane. 
The Curlew nests on the moor-lands of all three kingdoms, and in the autumn 
and winter betakes itself to the sea-shore, where it is found either singly or in small 
flocks on the mud-flats of tidal rivers. The female is larger than the male and has a 
much longer bill. In spring the streaks on the breast become broader and blacker, 
and the upper plumage is also much darker. In winter the Curlew visits India and 
Africa, and in the breeding-season it is found in Northern and Central Europe, as 
far east as Lake Baikal. The nest is a depresion in the grass, with a slight lining of 
leaves or dead grass. The eggs are four in number and pear-shaped, olive-brown, 
with black spots and blotches, generally round the larger end of the egg. The length 
is from two-and-three-quarters to nearly three inches. 
