open tundra, lined sparsely with decayed leaves 

 and dried grasses (MacFarlane 1891). 



There is no information on any special roost- 

 ing behavior or requirements. Roosting is evidently 

 in the open in the same habitat as nesting and 

 winter and migration feeding. 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



None known. Presumably, there is an aerial 

 territory flight song like other shorebirds have. 



OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

 REQUIREMENTS 



Open Arctic tundra for nesting and summer 

 feeding. Extensive natural upland grassland for 

 winter and migration feeding. 



POPULATION NUMBERS AND TRENDS 



No exact population counts or even reliable 

 estimates have ever been made. Comments of 

 early observers were that the curlews were for- 

 merly present in tremendous numbers on the 

 Labrador and prairie migration stopovers. They 

 arrived in Texas in "immense flocks" in spring 

 from 1856-1875 (Bent 1929). 



In Kansas, they were abundant as late as 1878, 

 but were much reduced in 1879 and decreased 

 rapidly after that (Bent 1929). From 1866 to 

 1888, they reached Omaha, Neb., in late April, 

 remaining in force for a week to 10 days. Enorm- 

 ous flocks consisting of thousands of individuals 

 formed dense masses extending a quarter to a half 

 mile (0.4-0.8 km) in length and a hundred or 

 more yards (91 m) in width which, when alighting, 

 would cover 40 to 50 acres (16 to 24 hectares) of 

 ground. At that time, they were slaughtered liter- 

 ally by the cart-load. Their numbers in the prairies 

 began diminishing rapidly in the early 1880's 

 (Swenk 1916). On the Labrador migration staging 

 area in 1833, Audubon (1835) described great 

 flocks that reminded him of passenger pigeon 

 abundance. A "cloud" of curlews in fall migration 

 was seen on the Magdalen Islands in 1890— perhaps 

 the last big flocks seen in the east (Forbush 1912). 

 During the last 50 years, very few have been seen 

 during migration at any one time. The most recent 

 records are Galveston Island, Texas, 22 March 

 1959 (1), 3 April 1960 (1), 31 March 1961 (1), 

 24 March 1962 (1), and 31 March 1962 (2) 

 (Emanuel 1962); Barbados, West Indies, fall migra- 



tion 1963 (1 specimen); North Point, West side of 

 James Bay, Ontario, 15 August 1976 (2). 



REPRODUCTION 



Nests are very difficult to find. Incubating 

 birds flush long before observers approach. 

 Eggs, usually 4 to a clutch, resemble the grass in 

 color, being dark brownish green to blue blotched 

 with brown, more heavily on the larger end 

 (MacFarlane 1891). Eggs were present in nests at 

 Fort Anderson, Mackenzie from May 27 through 

 June 13 (MacFarlane 1891). Eggs were found at 

 Point Lake, Mackenzie, on 13 June 1822 (Swain- 

 son and Rich2u:dson 1881). Time of hatching and 

 length of time young duce dependent on adults is 

 unknown, but by the end of July the breeding 

 season is over for the most part and the adults 

 head south, soon to be followed by the young. 



MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION 



With the present state of our knowledge of 

 the distribution of the remaining Eskimo curlew 

 population, particularly during the breeding and 

 wintering seasons, nothing can be done to manage 

 it except to rigidly protect the occasional indivi- 

 duals that are discovered; to keep a lookout for 

 them in areas where they formerly concentrated, 

 such as the southern tip of the Labrador Peninsula, 

 the coast of New England and Long Island, the 

 tail-grass prairie belt from the coast of Texas and 

 Louisiana north to South Dakota, and the Argen- 

 tina grasslands from Buenos Aires south to the 

 Chubut River. Also, special effort should be made 

 to locate the present breeding grounds of the 

 small remaining population, with special attention 

 given to the former breeding area along the Arctic 

 coast between the Anderson and Coppermine 

 Rivers and south to Great Bear Lake, Mackenzie. 

 It might be beneficial to increase the area of un- 

 plowed grassland along the migration routes and/ 

 or in wintering grounds. 



AUTHORITIES 



No living person has had enough personal ex- 

 perience with Eskimo curlews to be considered an 

 authority on the species. 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



The preparer has been most impressed by the 



