Linda Bratt, age 12, of Bartlesville, Okla., for her question:

What is a curlew?

The beach party was invented by a group of birds ‑ the curlew and his relatives, the sandpipers. You may watch their busy goings‑on from a distance and maybe hear their shrill, rather mournful conversation. But you will never be invited or even permitted to join the party. :'As you approach these sandy colored shore birds they run or fly away. And they are all fast runners and strong flyers.

From a distance, this beach picnic seems to be a family affair. There are large members, medium sized and small members. The smallest, no bigger than a long legged sparrow, is named the least sandpiper. If there happens to be a few large birds, a foot or maybe two feet tall, they are not the parents of the smaller fellas. They may well be curlews.

All members of the party are fully grown. All are members of the sandpiper family, cousins of various sizes. You can recognize the curlew, if he happens to be present, by his size and by his remarkable bill. This beak maybe six inches long, is vary thin and it curves downward like a sickle moon.

Though shy of people, these birds are very sociable among themselves. All the cousins, and even a few gulls are welcome to join the picnic, but every member is expected to provide his own lunch. They dig for worms in the sand. and pounce on any small sea creature washed up by the tide. The big curlew can tackle a small crab. He is also fond of sea snails and shrimp when he can find them.

The best time to watch a sandpiper beach picnic is during the winter months. Even then, do not expect that the big curlew will always be present, for he is rather a rare bird. along our shores. Three different curlews are native 11mericans, by which we mean that they are born on North American soil. Only two of these visit our shores and one of them is almost extinct.

The third American curlew has a fascinating life story which did not come to light until 1948, The famous naturalist Captain Cook spotted this tall fellow on the island of Tahiti and, thinking he belonged there, he gave him the fancy name tahitiensis. The great Captain was wrong, Tahitiensis turned out to be a native born American on his winter vacation.

Almost all the sandpipers, including the curlew, visit us only during the winter months. In the spring they fly north to nest and bring up their young on the bleak irrctic tundra. In 1948, under the midnight sun, the breading grounds of tahitiensis were discovered on the Alaskan tundra. Come fall, these native born Americans fly some 2, 000 miles, most of it over the ocean, to the sunny tropical isle of Tahiti.