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A DESCRIPTION OP 
THE CURLEW. (Numenius arquata.) 
Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore, 
His dun-gray plumage floating to the gale, 
The Curlew blends his melancholy wail 
With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour. 
Miss WILLIAMS. 
Wild as the scream of the Curlew, 
From rock to rock the signal flew. SIR WALTER SCOTT. 
THE Curlew is a pretty large bird, weighing about twenty- 
four ounces. He is found on the sea-shore on all sides of 
England. The middle parts of the feathers of the head, neck, 
and back are black, the borders or outsides ash-coloured, 
with a mixture of red ; the lower part of the body is white. 
The beak has a regular curve downward, and is soft at 
the point. This bird's flesh may challenge for flavour and 
delicacy that of any other water-fowl, and the people of 
Suffolk say proverbially: 
A Curlew, be she white, be she black, 
She carries twelve pence on her back : 
but it rmist be confessed that the quality and goodness of 
the flesh of Curlews depend on their manner of feeding, 
and the season in which they are caught. W hen they d well 
