254 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



Courltsy of Recreation 



mroSONIAN CURLEW 



ESKIMO CURLEW 

 Numenius borealis (J. K. I-'nrster) 



A. O U. Number 266 See Color Plate 38 



Other Names. — Fute ; Dough- or Doe-bird ; Little 

 Curlew ; Prairie Pigeon. 



General Description. — Length, 15 inches. Color like 

 that of the Hudsonian Curlew, but more reddish. Bill 

 slender, curved, and about twice the length of head; 

 toes, webbed at base. 



Color. — Upper parts, brownish-black variegated 

 with pale cinnamon-brown; crown, without central 

 light line: streak over eye of whitish; under parts, 

 tawny ocher to whitish, marked everywhere with dusky 

 streaks, bars, or arrowhead spots, these markings very 



numerous except on chin ; bill, black, paler at base 

 below; feet, lead-gray; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually on the open plains ; 

 a mere depression in the ground, lined with a few dry 

 leaves or grass. Eggs: 4, ground color variable, from 

 pale green, gray, or brown to olive-drab, with numerous 

 bold markings of sepia and umber-brown, more 

 crowded around large end. 



Distribution. — North and South America ; breeds on 

 the Barren Grounds of northern Mackenzie; winters in 

 .Argentina and Patagonia; now nearly extinct. 



It is a great pity that we must speak of the 

 Eskimo Curlew in tlie past tense. Its disappear- 

 ance is but another tribute to the effectiveness of 

 modern fire-arms and the short-sighted selfish- 

 ness of the average American hunter. In the 

 seventies and early eighties Eskimo Curlews in 

 countless numbers came annually to the coast of 

 Massachusetts and earlierwriters mention themas 

 being very plentiful in the Carolinas. Their sum- 

 mer home was in the Barren Grounds and other 



regions in the northern part of North .'\merica. 

 In autumn they collected in Newfoundland in 

 enormous flocks. One observer declares that 

 they came in millions that darkened the sky. 

 After following down the coast to Nova Scotia 

 they launched out over the ocean for South 

 America, and many of them never sighted land 

 until they reached the West India Islands. 

 Whether during this long journey they ever 

 rested on the water, or whether they continued 



