SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 101 



always to be pointiug 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, long-er than tarsus ; front 

 of tarsus with transverse scutellie ; toes webbed at base. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Bill of adult long-er than tarsus and middle toe ; crown not striped. 



longirostris, p. 101. 

 1'. Bill not longer than tai-sus and middle toe. 



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



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



264. Numenius longirostris Wils. Long-billed Ccrlew. 



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

 and black ; outer wel)s of outer quills wholly black ; head, neck, throat, 

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

 mon ; chin whitish. Length: 20-2(), Aving- 10-11, bill 2.o() in young- of 

 year to 8.50 in old birds ; tarsus o.OO-o.SO. 



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

 Texas to Canada, migrating- to Guatemala, Cuba, and Janudca. 



Nest. — A depression in the ground lined with grass. J^yys : 3 or 4, 

 g-rayish buff to pale buffy brown, spotted with dark brown and lilac. 



On the prah'ics in migration you sometimes see a flock of a 

 lumdred 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 Niimenins with their long, curved bills 

 down l)ef()re 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 elTect. 



When an intruder approaches their breeding grounds tliey often 

 come over the prairie to meet him and eirele arouiul with wild cries 

 and shrill laugliter. 



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

 they make too easy a mark for any true sixn-tsman, and when taken 

 ur(! of little use, as their flesh is tough and dry. 



Colonel (toss gives their food as worms, crickets, beetles, grass- 

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

 for the crabs with their long bills and pull them out of their holes, 

 and prolK' lor larv.-e that come near the surface in spring. 



