CUBLEW. 
135 
the wings, and dropping nearly to the ground, then sweeping 
up once more a little, and then settling down. They often 
stand on one leg, or rest themselves by lying down. 
They make their food in winter of small marine insects, 
crabs, and other minute Crustacea; mollusks, worms, and other 
such; and when the flowing tide covers the sand where these 
are to be procured, they retire inland even to a considerable 
distance; but as soon as ever the ebbing waves have again 
retired back so far towards their fixed gaol as to leave the 
sandy margin again uncovered, back, almost to a moment, 
do the flocks return, taught by some sense which is out of 
the range of sight, but which ‘He that planted the eye’ has 
likewise implanted, as He has every other proper gift in His 
creatures, according to their several need. In summer they 
pick up flies and different insects, in addition to such of the 
other kinds of food enumerated here, as may then come in 
their way; and also bilberries, whortleberries, lichens, blades 
of grass, and the tender tops of twigs. They drink often, 
and are fond of bathing themselves. 
The loud, clear whistle of the Curlew is exceedingly pleasant 
to such as delight in those retired scenes in which it is heard, 
and with which, as I have said, it so well harmonizes. It 
is uttered by the bird when on the wing, and its name I 
suppose has been considered to resemble it. It may be heard 
high in the air during migration, and also in the spring, 
at which season the male serenades his mate, rising slowly 
aloft, and wailing out his quivering cry. If an intruder 
approaches the nest, or its intended site, he is assailed by 
both birds, who dash at him with noisy screams, and beat 
about him within a few yards. They also, if driven to a 
distance and there followed, endeavour to entice their enemy 
away further by running and skulking in a deceptive manner. 
The nest, if any be made in some slight hollow, consists 
only of a little dry grass, twigs, or leaves, or is placed in 
the middle of a tuft of the former, among heather or rushes. 
The eggs, laid in April and May, are four in number, and 
they differ much both in their ground colour and the spots. 
They are of a pale dull green, blotted all over with two 
shades of brown. They are very large for the size of the 
bird. They are placed quatrefoil in the nest, the narrow ends 
inwards. The young run about almost as soon as hatched, 
but are not able to fly for a considerable time. Until then 
they are assiduously attended to by their parents. If 
