SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 101 



always to be pointing- down as they fly, their whole bodies tipping 

 violently when they alight. This teetering motion, which becomes 

 ridiculously rapid under excitement or alarm, has given the bird its 

 familiar names of tip-up and teeter-tail. 



GENUS NUMENIUS. 



General Characters. Bill curved and slender, longer than tarsus ; front 

 of tarsus with transverse scutelLe ; toes webbed at base. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Bill of adult longer than tarsus and middle toe ; crown not striped. 



longirostris, p. 101. 

 1'. Bill not longer than tarsus and middle toe. 



2. Crown black with middle line of buff . . . hudsonicus, p. 102. 



2'. Crown specked, without middle line of buff . . borealis, p. 102. 



264. Numenius longirostris Wils. LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 



Plumage light cinnamon, barred and mottled on upper parts with dusky 

 and black : outer webs of outer quills wholly black ; head, neck, throat, 

 and chest streaked with dusky ; crown mainly dusky ; belly plain cinna- 

 mon ; chin whitish. Length : 20-26, wing 10-11, bill 2.30 in young of 

 year to 8.50 in old birds ; tarsus 3.00-3.50. 



Distribution. - - Whole of temperate North America, breeding from 

 Texas to Canada, migrating to Guatemala, Cuba, and Jamaica. 



Nest. A depression in the ground lined with grass. Eggs : 3 or 4, 

 grayish buff to pale buffy brown, spotted with dark brown and lilac. 



On the prairies in migration you sometimes see a flock of a 

 hundred curlew flying high overhead in long shifting lines of form- 

 ing and dissolving wedges; and on the irrigated fields of the in- 

 terior, in marked contrast to the white moving throng of small bob- 

 bing snipe and sandpipers, you often find a small company of the 

 big, brown, round-backed Numenius w r ith their long, curved bills 

 down before them, stalking along with dignified demeanor. As 

 they rise and fly you get a flash of rich, warm color, and your ear is 

 startled by their stirring clarion call. When they come to earth, 

 like other waders they raise their wings over the back for an instant 

 with most striking effect. 



When an intruder approaches their breeding grounds they often 

 come over the prairie to meet him and circle around with wild cries 

 and shrill laughter. 



There is little excuse for killing these splendid birds for game, as 

 they make too easy a mark for any true sportsman, and when taken 

 are of little use, as their flesh is tough and dry. 



Colonel Goss gives their food as worms, crickets, beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, small snails, crabs, and crawfish, and says that they reach 

 for the crabs w T ith their long bills and pull them out of their holes, 

 and probe for larva? that come near the surface in spring. 



