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From Middle Englishcurlew, from Old Frenchcourlieu (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).
1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 16:
That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew.
