curlew

noun

Etymology: From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).

1. Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
2. A stone curlew (Burhinidae spp.).

   “That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew.”