314 PR^COCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^. 



of jSTew Jersey about the middle of May, and again in September. He inferred — 

 probably incorrectly — that these birds necessarily went north to breed. Their food 

 seemed to consist chiefly of small crabs, for which they very dexterously probe, pull- 

 ing them out of the holes with their long bills. They also feed on the small sea- 

 snails, so common in the salt-marshes, and on various worms and insects. In the fall 

 they are said to be very fond of the berries of the wild brambles, on Avhicli they feed 

 with eagerness, becoming very fat, and are then excellent eating, not having the rank 

 sedgy flavor acquired by those birds which feed exclusively in the marshes. Wilson 

 states that in some cases one or two pairs have been known to remain in the salt- 

 marshes at Cape May all through the summer. 



In Major Long's expedition some of this species were observed in the northern 

 part of Illinois (lat. 42° X.), June 15, from which it was naturally inferred that 

 they were breeding there. It is now known that they probably breed in all, or nearly 

 all, the Western States north of the Ohio and Avest of Lake Erie. 



Nuttall observed them on the nuuldy shores of the Santee, near Charleston, S. C, 

 in January. Audubon afterward ascertained that this CurleAV is a constant resident 

 in the Southern States, that it is well known both in summer and winter about 

 Charleston, and that it breeds on the islands on the coast of South Carolina ; but he 

 met with none of this species in Labrador or in any place from Eastport to the most 

 northern portion visited by him, and he satisfied himself, from his inquiries among 

 well-informed residents, that none are ever found there. 



The Eev. Dr. Bachman foiuid it breeding in South Carolina, where it nested on the 

 ground, fovniiug a very scanty receptacle for its eggs, and placing the nests so closely 

 together that it was almost impossible for a man to walk between them without 

 injuring the eggs. 



In South Carolina Audubon observed that this species spent the day in the sea- 

 marshes and returned at the approach of night to the sandy beaches of the sea-shore, 

 where it rested until the morning. He states that the number of these birds that 

 would thus collect for the night sometimes amounted to several thousands. He vis- 

 ited Cole's Island, near Charleston, in order to witness its movements. Just after 

 sunset the birds began to make their appearance, in parties of from three to five, and 

 were by no means shy. As it became darker the number of CurlcAvs increased and 

 the flocks approached in more ra})id succession, until they seemed to form a contin- 

 uous procession, moving in an extended mass at the height of not more than thirty 

 yards, not a sound being heard except the regular flajopings of their wings. They 

 flew directly toAvard their resting place — known as the Bird Banks — and alighted 

 without performing any evolutions. But when the party followed them to these 

 banks — Avhich were small sandy islands — the congregated flocks, amounting to 

 several thousand individuals, all standing close together, rose at once, performed in 

 silence a few evolutions, and re-alighted, as if with one accord, on the extreme margin 

 of the sandbank, close to the breakers. The next morning a little before daylight 

 the pai'ty again visited the banks; but as soon as they landed the birds all rose a few 

 yards in the air, and flew off in various directions to their feeding-grounds. 



Mr. Moore has met this species in Florida during the summer months, but was 

 not able to obtain any evidence that it breeds there, although regarding it as quite 

 probable that this is the case on the more distant islands along the coast of that 

 State. 



The eggs of this species, — which vary considerably in their ground-color and in 

 the distribution of their markings — are pyriform, or a rounded oval pointed at one 

 end. In one (S. I. No. 2910) the ground-color is a pale olive-drab, the markings being 



