Sir, – A conservation report finds that our native curlews, whose cry filled the land in my young days, are down to 98 breeding pairs ("Another Life", Michael Viney, December 13th).
Before weather forecasting broadcasts became widespread, country people believed that the plaintive cry of the bird was a sign that rain was coming. The silence of this brown wader of moor and heath is deafening largely because of intensification of farming. At stake is the environment. Let us manage portions of our land more sympathetically for our wildlife. There’s plenty of room for improvement.
As Michael Viney says, “Let’s not throw away what’s left of it”. – Yours, etc,
JOHN F FALLON,
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Boyle,
Co Roscommon.