pretty regularly in September, but are very seldom to be
seen on the ground, and in March and April a few visit
us, generally singly or in pairs, on their return passage,
occasionally remaining for a few days in our water-
meadows. I imagine that there are very few districts in
Great Britain or Ireland in which the Curlew is not to
be met with either as a breeding species, an occasional
visitor, or an autumnal and winter-resident, though, no
doubt, to the majority of Englishmen the bird is chiefly
associated with the wildest and least frequented parts of
our sea-shores and estuaries. The nest of this species is
an artless arrangement of dry rushes and grass, generally
well concealed : the eggs, very large for the size of the
bird, are of a dull olive-green with brown blotches and
spots; I have now and then found young Curlews
almost full-grown, but unable to fly, as late as the first
week in August. The parent-birds are very bold and
clamorous when their young are approached, and will
attack a dog in this circumstance, but seldom approach
within gunshot range of a man. A few Curlews may
be killed by lying up concealed in their line of flight to
and from their feeding-grounds at the ebb and flow of
the tide, but they soon learn to avoid dangerous spots,
and either change their route or fly at a safe height from
the ground; their food consists of the creeping, crawling,
and wriggling animals that are to be found on the sands
and muds at low-water time, and on the upland moors
they feed principally upon earth-worms, beetles, and
various berries. The ordinary cry of the Curlew is
fairly well represented by its English name with the first
syllable dwelt upon and prolonged, but it has a variety
of other notes, and the deafening shrieks of a large flock
of these birds when suddenly alarmed at night or in a fog
certainly form one of the most startling pieces of bird-
music with which I am acquainted. I have never had
much success in keeping young Curlews alive in captivity,
but adult birds, captured without injury, generally do
well in our aviaries, and feed heartily upon worms and
chopped meat: in the summer months some of my
Curlews have to a considerable extent supported themselves
by very adroit fly-catching, a process for which
their curved soft bills appear to be singularly ill-adapted;
I have, however, constantly and repeatedly seen them
pick house-flies from the walls and gravel of the aviaries
with the unerring aim of the smaller Herons. Our
Curlew may be roughly said to be found throughout
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in other parts of the world
is represented by very similar and closely-allied species.