COMMON CURLEW. 
275 
be visible above the receding tide. During a flight 
to any distance, or in migration, they fly in a 
wedge form, at times skimming low above the 
waters or shore, at others high over head ; and if 
the first party is alarmed, and gives notice by their 
scream, the next in succession will deviate from the 
track, uttering the same alarm note, as if for a 
warning to their followers. The Common Curlew 
is also found in various parts of the European Con- 
tinent, extending northward, as a summer visitant, 
to Norway and Sweden, and is found in the Faroe 
Isles and Iceland, where it even occasionally win- 
ters.* It was seen at Smyrna by Mr. Strickland ; 
South Africa is given to it by Dr. Smith ; and 
China and Nipaul by Mr. Gould. Continental 
India possesses specimens from the catalogues of 
Elliot and Jerdan ; but in that of the last a single 
specimen only is mentioned to have been obtained. 
We possess specimens from Southern Africa, very 
nearly resembling European birds ; they have the 
axillary feathers in every specimen pure white. 
A specimen from China appears to present some 
differences, which farther comparisons only can 
give weight to. The range, however, of this bird, 
has been much overrated, from the similarity of 
allied species, which a close examination only can 
detect. It is represented in America by the N. 
longirostris. 
The head, neck, and breast, are of a tint of yel- 
lowish wood-brown or ochreous, varying in in- 
* Yarrell. 
