or fibres, and contains from two to four pear-shaped eggs, about as large as those of the Peewit, with a thin, lustreless, greenish yellow shell, more or less marked with blackish grey or violet spots. Both sexes brood, and tend the young (which are hatched in about eighteen days) with great affection, leading them at first about the fields, then near large pools, and only venturing with them to the open sea when they begin to use their wings. * * * * * The CURLEWS (_Numenii_) are very beautifully-formed birds, with a slender body, long thin neck, small head, and a very long, slightly-curved, and soft beak, which is broad at its base, and horny at its tip. The upper mandible is a trifle longer than, and bends somewhat over, the lower portion of the bill; the slender, high, broad-soled feet are bare, and furnished with four toes, connected by a decided web; the wings are long and pointed, with the first quill longer than the rest; the moderate-sized tail is composed of twelve feathers. The close compact plumage does not vary in the sexes, or at different seasons of the year. The members of this group include about a dozen species, and are met with in almost every portion of the globe. THE GREAT CURLEW, OR WHAAP. The GREAT CURLEW, or WHAAP (_Numenius arquatus_), is from twenty-six to twenty-eight inches long (this measurement includes the beak, which is from seven to eight inches long), and from forty-five to forty-seven inches across the span of the wings; the wing measures from twelve to thirteen inches, and the tail from four inches and a half to five inches and a half. On the upper portions of the body the feathers are brown, edged with light reddish yellow, those of the lower back are white, spotted with brown, and those on the under side reddish yellow, shafted and spotted with brown. The quills are black, spotted and bordered with white, and the tail-feathers white, striped with brown. The eye is dark brown; the beak black, with a yellowish grey base to the lower mandible; and the foot lead-grey. The young have in proportion to their size a shorter beak than the adult birds, thicker feet, and paler markings on the under side. [Illustration: THE SCOOPING AVOCET (_Recurvirostra avocella_).] [Illustration: THE GREAT CURLEW (_Numenius arquatus_). ONE-QUARTER NATURAL SIZE.]