SCOLOPACID^: CURLEWS. 



645 



643. N. longiros'tris. (Lat. Zow^ft^s, long; ros^mjw, beak.) Long-billed Curlew. Sickle-bill. 



\\\\\ of oxtroine length and curvature, measuring from 4 to 6 or 8 inches. Of largest size : lengtli 

 24.U0 or more; extent 38.00; wing 10.00-12.00; tail about 4.00; tarsus 2.75-;3.50. Plumage 

 very similar to that of the godwit, Limosa fceda : prevaiUng tone rufous, of varying intensity 

 in different specimens, usually deepest .m the lining of the wings, which are little varied with 

 otlier color. Primaries varied with rufous. Top of head variegated with blackish and rufous 

 or whitish, without distinct pale median and lateral lines. Upper parts brownish-black, 

 speckled with tawny or cinnamon-brown, each feather having several indentations or broken 

 bars of this color; rufous prevaiUng on wing-coverts. Tail-feathers and secondaries cinnamon- 

 brown, with pretty regular dark bars throughout. Under parts rufous or cinnamon of varying 

 intensity, usually deepening to chestnut under the wings, fading to whitish on throat; the 



jugulum and fore-breast with dusky streaks which tend on the sides of breast and body to arrow- 

 heads or more or less complete bars ; lining of wings, axillars, and crissum, mostly unmarked, 

 though some spots may appear. No white on rump, tail, or wings. Bill black, much of under 

 mandible pale-flesh-color or yellowish ; legs dark. Little variation in plumage with sex, age, 

 or season. Chicks hatch in whitish down, thickly blotched above with brownish-black; the 



bill straight, an inch long. Like other exceptional developments of parts of birds, this member 



grows to indetermi- 

 nate length. Up to _ -^7 -^^ 



the time it is not over 



3 or 4 inches long, 



the species may be 



distinguished from N. 



hudsonicus by the 



strong rufescence of 



the under parts, which 



are nearly clear of 



dark markings. En- 

 tire temperate N. 



Am. ; breeds nearly 



throughout its range ; 



migratory northward , 



resident in the south, 



but also S. in winter 



to C. Am. ; uncom- 

 mon in New England. 



Nests aboundingly on 



the S. Atlantic coast, and on tlie prairies of the Northwest. 



more like hen's eggs; 2.45 to 



Fig. 452. — Hudsonian Curlew, much reduced. (From Lewis.) 



Eggs 3-4, not very pear-shaped, 

 .80 long by 1.80-1.90 broad; clay-colored, tending either to 

 darker olivaceous shades or to buff ; spotting generally pretty uniform and of small pattern, 

 in some cases blotched or massed at the greater end, of sepia, chocolate, or umber-brown, the 

 paler shell-markings usually numerous and evident. 



644. N. phae'opus. (Gr. (j)ai6s, 2>haios, dusky, swarthy; ttovs, pons, foot.) European Wiiimbrel. 

 In stature and general character resembling the Hudsonian curlew ; at once distinguished from 

 that species by the white rump, upper-tail coverts and lining of wings, spotted or barred with 

 dusky. An extensively distributed Old World species, only N. American as occurring in 

 Greenland. 



645. N. hudsonicus. (Of Hudson's Bay. Fig. 4.52.) Hudsonian Curlew. Jack Curlew. Of 

 medium size ; bill moderate in length, stout, curved. Bill 3 or 4 inches long. Length 16.00- 

 18.00 ; extent 32.00 ; wing 9.00-10.00 ; taU 3.50 ; tarsus 2.25-2.50. General tone of coloration 



