Stone curlew

“ As autumn advances the stone-curlew gathers in large flocks, and then is as wary as its namesake. Towards October these take their departure, and their survivors return, often with wonderful constancy, to their beloved haunts. In size this species exceeds any other European plover, and looks even still larger than it is. The bill is short, blunt, and stout; the head large, broad, and flat at the top; the wings and legs long—the latter presenting the peculiarity of a singular enlargement of the upper part of the tarsus, whence the names Oedicnemus and Thick-knee have been conferred. ”

“ With regard to the oedicnemus, or stone curlew, I intend to write very soon to my friend near Chichester, in whose neighbourhood these birds seem most to abound; and shall urge him to take particular notice when they begin to congregate, and afterwards to watch them most narrowly whether they do not withdraw themselves during the dead of the winter. ”

“ Although the number of Stone Curlews breeding in the district has doubtless greatly diminished since that period, it still seems probable that the numerical loss has been little since the time of Salmon in the early thirties. This year they are certainly far more plentiful than they have been during the last ten years. A belt of heathland from four to eight miles wide surrounds Thetford—which for this reason has been designated "the town on the heath"—and hereon the Stone Curlews nest yearly. ”

“ In Egypt, notwithstanding their usual preference for barren tracts, the Stone Curlews not only venture into towns and perch upon houses, but occasionally make their nests on the roofs, always provided that the situation be such as to permit them to have a clear space about them, and an elevated perch from whence they can reconnoitre in order to elude the approach of danger. A nearly-allied species, residing in South Africa, frequents the outskirts of forests, selecting spots thickly covered with brushwood, in which it conceals itself if alarmed. ”

“ They appear to know just when this occurs, however far from the shore they may be, and, rising and calling to each other, set out on their return, to arrive at the exact time when feeding may begin. It is during these journeys to and fro between the sea and the moors that the curlew looks at his best when, seen at a moderate distance, he passes in small flocks, disposed in the form of a wedge, or letter V, his sharp-pointed wings and long, ibis-like beak clearly outlined against the blue sky. To most lovers of nature and wild bird life the voice of the curlew is his principal attraction. ”

“ Though the natural home of the curlews is the muddy shores and grassy lowlands adjacent to bodies of water the Long-billed species also frequents drier places at a distance from water, and even breeds in the uplands. Here their food consists of worms, insects and berries. When fattened with such food their flesh is tender and lacks the stronger flavor that is present when they have fed exclusively on the animal food of the marshes of the sea shore. It is interesting to watch the Curlew upon the beach as it gracefully moves from point to point in search of food. ”

“ 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.—Bewick. ”

“ They fly as steady as a woodcock, answer to a whistle that resembles their note; lay long on their wings, and are a {425} most excellent shot, and at times are delicious eating. The other species of Curlew are in colour and shape exactly like the former, though inferior in size, and differ in their manner of life, as they never frequent the water's-edge, but always keep among the rocks and dry ridges, and feed on berries and small insects. The flesh of this bird is generally more esteemed than that of the former, but they are by no means so numerous. ”

“ In some districts where little beach is exposed during high-water, the Curlews will retire some distance inland, but return with remarkable punctuality as soon as the tide begins to ebb. Shingle banks and islands are also often visited between tides. Curlews when feeding are very restless birds, running and walking about the beach, seemingly in a very careless and unsuspecting manner, but sentinels are ever on the watch to sound the warning note, which sends the big long-billed speckled birds hurrying away to safer haunts. The Curlew feeds both by day and by night ”

“ When down beneath the foggy wreath,
Full many a gully through,
They rend the air, like cries of despair—
The screams of the wild Curlew.
They rend the air,
Like cries of despair,
The screams of the wild Curlew. ”

“ The Long-billed Curlew is the largest of the American curlews and has a wide range covering nearly the whole of temperate North America. It is not a bird of high altitudes and in winter it seeks the milder climate of the Southern States, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Jamaica. During the breeding season, which is passed in the South Atlantic States or in the interior of North America as far north as Manitoba, it is not a social bird. While migrating, however, and in winter, it enjoys the society of its fellows and is generally observed in flocks of a greater or less number. ”

“ During a greater part of the year the curlew is a shore-bird, seeking its food on the sand-flats which become covered at high water. When the tide overflows the flats the birds go inland, often to a distance of several miles from the sea, and wait there until the tide turns. ”

“ As I watched it steadily increasing the first voices of the night began to call—a 'possum squealed from the branches of a blue gum in the creek, and was answered by another somewhere near; and then the long, long mournful wail of a curlew cried out from the sunbaked plain beyond. Oh, the unutterable sense of loneliness that at times the long-drawn, penetrating cry of the curlew, resounding through the silence of the night amid the solitude of vast Australian plains, causes the solitary bushman or traveller to feel! ”

“ Geoffrey Bingham, barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, M.A., was engaged with a very serious occupation. He was trying to shoot curlew as they passed over his hiding-place on their way to the mud banks where they feed further along the coast.
Now if there is a thing in the world which calls for the exercise of man’s every faculty it is curlew shooting in a mist. Perhaps he may wait for an hour or even two hours and see nothing, not even an oyster-catcher. Then at last from miles away comes the faint wild call of curlew on the wing. ”

“ As I have nothing of any importance to add, I shall present you with a few extracts, from Wilson and Nuttall, both of whom have had opportunities of observing this species.
“The Short-billed Curlew,” says the former, “arrives in large flocks on the sea-coast of New Jersey early in May, from the south, frequents the salt-marshes, muddy shores, and inlets, feeding on small worms and minute shell-fish. They are most commonly seen on mud-flats at low water, in company with various other waders; and at high water roam 284 along the marshes. They fly high, and with great rapidity. ”

“ Common Curlew (Numenius arquata) .—There were flocks of Curlews on the coast of Walney Island and at Ravenglass.
Boot. There were here several pairs of breeding birds about the hills. One pair which I watched for some time had young which could fly quite well. The old birds flew round at a safe distance, very often settling on opposite side of me, keeping just out of sight over the rise of the hill, calling to each other with a soft musical whistle all the time. At another spot a pair were particularly noisy and bold, coming quite close to me, and whistling loudly. ”

“ All of the boatmen also, with whom I have been about at various times, agree that the Curlews do not breed in the Islands, though they are quite aware that they remain throughout the year, and as many of them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, are great robbers of the eggs of the Gulls, Puffins, and Oystercatchers, all of which they know well, they would hardly miss such a fine mouthful as the egg of the Curlew if it was to be found. ”

“ So soon as the young are able to shift for themselves, both they and their parents resort to the sea-shore or mouths of rivers, from the muddy flats of which they at low tide obtain their living, and, though almost beyond any other birds wary of approach, form an object of pursuit to numerous gunners. While leading this littoral life the food of the curlew seems to consist of almost anything edible that presents itself. ”

“ The Curlew, when surprised, utters a cry with which most of us, I suppose, are familiar; but when with lowered head it drives away another individual from the feeding ground, it gives expression to its feelings by a low, raucous sound, which again is different from its cry when a Common Gull steals the arenicola that has been drawn out of the mud with such labour. ”

“ As we row on down the lake, watching the reflection of the boat rocking in the ripples, and the reflections of the hills and the trees on the shore of the lake we sometimes hear a long whistling cry, and a curlew swings high over our heads from one side of the valley to the other, like a pendulum-bob without a string, his long curved beak stretched out far before him. ”

“ When the Curlew flies to that part of the mud-flat which is first exposed by the receding tide, and there associates with others, it does not then do so because it has any interest in its fellows, nor because they serve as an attraction, but because it is constrained by hunger—in other words, the association is determined by accident. ”

“ It looked like some saline excrescence which had slowly exuded from the brine-soaked rock. On the bar hundreds of white gulls rose and settled as the tide encroached; curlew were running along the foam-splashed shore under the eastern cliffs across the river. ”

“ Every place was searched, but there was nowhere visible old Stephen Curlew. Days passed on, and strange stories filled the ears of men. One neighbour vowed that he had had a dream or a vision, he knew not which, wherein he saw the goldsmith whirled down the Strand in a chariot drawn by a lion and a tiger, and driven by a half-naked young man, wearing a panther skin, and on his head vine-leaves and ivy. ”

“ I did not shoot at them, and hope to find the nest or young; but to find nests in the moss is a difficult job, for the whole country looks alike. "The Curlews are coming;" this is as much of a saying here as that about the Wild Pigeons in Kentucky. What species of Curlew, I know not yet, for none have been killed, but one of our men, who started with John and party, broke down, and was sent back ”

“ As we proceed, a splash comes from the river, and some large-winged fly has been sucked under. The night food comes on, and the reach boils. Water-rats, voles, and shrews are busy among the stones searching for insect larvæ, or gnawing the stalks of water-plants. The wafting of wings overhead betokens a curlew flying through the darkness to its feeding ground. The peculiarly lonely wail of the summer-snipe comes down stream, and a teal stretches her neck low over the sand. ”

“ Flocks of tiny shore birds tripped lightly over the soft mud of the banks, and brown and black long-billed curlews stalked over the grassy prairie. Many of these birds were evidently breeding, and displayed great anxiety when the visitors approached their nests. The curlews especially were demonstrative, and flew about close above the men's heads, uttering loud, shrill cries.
On a little knoll near one of the lakes, Hugh and Jack sat down and adjusted the glasses to study the birds that were floating on the water. ”

“ 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. ”

“ All through the autumn and winter the Curlew continues gregarious. It migrates in vast flocks, and frequently associates with other wild fowl, although it may be that these other and smaller species seek its company to profit by its extraordinary vigilance. Sand-worms, crustaceans, and molluscs form its principal food whilst living on the coast, but in summer, at its breeding-grounds, worms, grubs, insects, ground fruits, and berries are eaten. ”

“ I jumped up, shot the bird as it ran away, and soon had the pleasure of looking at the first authentic eggs of the curlew sandpiper. The bird, which proved to be the female, remained silent throughout; at one time I thought I heard it make a sound like a dunlin, but, as I afterwards saw dunlins close by, I was probably mistaken.
The next news comes from the Russian explorers who wintered on the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula in 1900-1901. In Doctor Walter's posthumous notes he writes that the curlew sandpiper nested in numbers near his winter quarters. ”