Curlew

The curlews () are a group of eight species of birds in the genusNumenius, characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been influenced by the Old Frenchcorliu, "messenger", from courir, "to run". It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland'sPiers Plowman "Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre". In Europe, "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata).