OF THE CURLEW.

THE bill is long, equally incurvated, and terminated in a blunt point; nostrils linear, and longitudinal near the base; tongue short and sharp pointed; and the toes are connected as far as the first joint by a membrane.

With the Curlew, Linnæus begins a numerous tribe of birds under the generic name of Scolopax, which, in his arrangement, includes all the Snipes and Godwits, amounting, according to Latham, to forty-two species and eight varieties, spread over various parts of the world, but no where very numerous.

Buffon describes fifteen species and varieties of the Curlew, and Latham ten, only two or three of which are British birds. They feed upon worms, which they pick up on the surface, or with their bills dig from the soft earth: on these they depend for their principal support; but they also devour the various kinds of insects which swarm in the mud, and in the wet boggy grounds, where these birds chiefly take up their abode.

(Scolopax arquata, Lin.-Le Courlis, Buff.)

The Curlew generally measures about two feet in length, and from tip to tip above three feet. The bill is about seven inches long, of a regular curve, and tender substance at the point, which is blunt. The upper mandible is black, gradually softening into brown towards the base; the under one flesh-coloured. The head and neck are streaked with darkish and light brown; the wing coverts are of the same colours; the feathers of the back and scapulars are nearly black in the middle, edged and deeply indented with pale rust colour, or light grey. The breast, belly, and the lower part of the back are dull white, the latter thinly spotted with black, and the two former with oblong strokes more thickly set, of the same

colour. The quill feathers are black, the inner webs crossed or spotted with white: the tail is barred with black, on a white ground tinged with red: the thighs are bare about half way above the knees, of a bluish colour, and the toes are thick, and flat on the under side, being furnished with membraneous edgings on each side to the claws.

These birds differ much in size, as well as in the different shades of their plumage, some of them weighing not more than twenty-two ounces, and others as much as thirty-seven. In the plumage of some the white parts are much more distinct and clear than in others, which are more uniformly grey, and tinged with pale brown.

The female is so nearly like the male, that any particular description of her is unnecessary: she makes her nest upon the ground, in a dry tuft of rushes or grass, of such withered materials as are found near, and lays four eggs of a greenish cast, spotted with brown.

The Curlew is met with by travellers in most parts of Europe, from Iceland to the Mediterranean Islands. In Britain their summer residence is upon the large, heathy, boggy moors, where they breed. Their food consists of worms, flies, and insects, which they pick out of the soft mossy ground by the marshy pools, which are common in such places. In winter they depart to the sea-side, where they are seen in great numbers, and then live upon the worms, marine insects, and other fishy substances which they pick up on the beach, and among the loose rocks and pools left by the retiring tide. The flesh of the Curlew has been characterised by some as very good, and of a fine flavour; by others as directly the reverse: the truth is, that while they are in health and season, and

live on the moors, scarcely any bird can excel them in goodness; but when they have lived some time on the sea-shore, they acquire a rank and fishy taste.

(Scolopax Phoopus, Lin.-Le petit Courlis, Buff.)

THE Whimbrel is only about half the size of the Curlew, which it very nearly resembles in shape, the colours of its plumage, and manner of living. It is about seventeen inches in length, and twenty-nine in breadth, and weighs about fourteen ounces. The bill is about three inches long, the upper mandible black, the under one pale red. The upper part of the head is black, divided in the middle of the crown by a white line from the brow to the hinder part: between the bill and the eyes there is a darkish oblong spot: the sides of the head, the neck, and breast, are of a pale brown, marked with narrow

dark streaks pointing downwards: the belly is of the same colour, but the dark streaks upon it are larger; about the vent it is quite white; the lower part of the back is also white. The rump and tail feathers are barred with black and white; the shafts of the quills are white, the outer webs totally black, but the inner ones marked with large white spots: the secondary quills are spotted in the same manner on both the inner and outer webs. The legs and feet are of the same shape and colour as those of the Curlew.

The Whimbrel is not so commonly seen on the seashores of this country as the Curlew; it is also more retired and wild, ascending to the highest mountain heaths in spring and summer to feed and rear its young.