322 
SC0L0PACID2E. 
GRALLA TORES. 
SCO LOP A CIDJE. 
CURLEW. 
Numenius arquata. 
FLATE LXXXVII. FIG. II. 
I have never traversed the lone wild heath, deserted, 
except by the feathered race, and at a moment in which 
I have felt the solitary dreariness of the scene, that the 
wild cry of the Curlew, so much in accordance with all 
around me, has not come like the voice of a companion to 
my ear, and produced a delightful feeling of gratitude to 
that Being who has thus adorned with life and beauty 
the most sterile and least interesting of His works ; and 
I have thought how great would be the void in the Crea¬ 
tion, were we deprived of this one branch of His glorious 
productions. It is upon such wild and deserted districts, 
together with downs and open sheep-walks, especially in 
places which are wet and marshy, that the Curlew breeds; 
its nest, when any, consists of a few pieces of dried grass 
collected together in a hollow in some tuft of the same 
material: the eggs, which are four in number, and can¬ 
not be mistaken for those of any other species, differ a 
good deal in the depth of the ground-colour, and also in 
the frequency of the spots. The eggs of the Curlew 
are not of so rich and beautiful a green as those of the 
whimbrel. 
Whilst in Norway, we were much amused with what 
