646 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOL^. 



scarcely rufous, the under parts, and the variegation of the upper, being whitish or ochraceous. 

 No white on rump, tail, or lining of wings. Top of head uniform blackish-brown, wdth well- 

 defined whitisli median and lateral stripes (as in phceopus, but neither longirostris nor horealin). 

 Upper parts brouTiish-black, speckled with whitish, ochraceous or pate cinnamon-brown, in 

 same pattern as in longirostris, but the dark in excess of the light colors, and these never 

 strongly rufescent. Tail ashy-bro^vn (not rufous; , with numerous narrow blackish bars. Prima- 

 ries fuscous, marbled or broken-barred with pale color (pattern as in longirostris, tone not 

 strongly rufous). Lining of wings and axillars rufescent, but spotted or barred throughout with 

 dusky. Under parts soiled whitish ut somewhat ochraceous, only obscurely rufescent on cris- 

 sum, if anywhere ; the jugulum and fore-breast with dusky streaks which, as in otjier species, 

 change to arrow-heads or incomplete bars on sides of breast and body. Bill blackish, some 

 part of lower mandible pale ; feet dark. The N. Am. representative of N. pihceopus, but 

 obviously different ; generally distributed, not so common as either longirostris or horealis ; 

 breeds in high latitudes, migratory through the U. S., wintering in the S. States and far beyond. 

 Eggs of intermediate size, but not distinguishable with certainty, the markings being as in 

 other species; 2.12 to 2.30 long, by about 1.60 broad. 



N. borealis. (Lat. horealis, northern.) Eskimo Curlew. Dough-bird. Of smallest 

 size ; bill short, slender, and little cui-sed. Bill 2.00 or more, perhaps never 3.00. Length 

 12.00-15.00 ; extent 28.00 ; wing under 9.00 ; tail 3.00 ; tarsus 2.00 or less. General tone 

 little rufescent, the under parts and the variegation of the upper rather ochraceous than rufous. 

 Top of head variegated throughout, without median line, but w^th tolerably well defined 

 whitish superciliary stripes. Upper parts brownish-black, speckled with ochraceous or very 

 pale cinnamon brown, the general efi"ect as in hudsonicus ; dark coloration in excess of the 

 pale. TaU barred much as in hudsonicus, the broader light bars often rufescent. Primaries 

 and most secondaries plain fuscous, entirely lacking the variegation seen in the foregoing. 

 Under parts ochraceous, or somewhat rufescent, very variable, frequently whitish, marked as 

 in other species with dusky streaks, aiTOw-heads, or bars, but these more numerous, frequently 

 occupjdng aU the under parts, excepting chin and middle of beUy. AxiUars and lining of 

 wings rufescent, barred throughout with dark brown. Bill black, with base of lower mandible 

 pale or yellowish ; feet greenish-black. In handling perhaps a hundred fi-esh-killed birds, I 

 have noted much variation in tone, but the species is unmistakable. X. Am. at large, breeding 

 within the Arctic circle, migrating through the U. S., where rarely if ever known to winter, 

 never to summer, and wintering in C. and S. Am. Extraordinarily abundant in some places 

 during the migration, as in Labrador, where it fairly swarms in August. In the northern 

 regions, feeds chiefiy on the Empetrum nigrum. Nest in open plains. Eggs 4, from 1.90 to 2.12 

 long, by 1.33 to 1.40 broad : olive-drab, tending to green, gray, or brown in difierent cases, with 

 large, bold and numerous markings of bistre, chocolate and sepia-brown, tending to aggregate 

 on the greater end, with the ordinary stone-gray shell-marks. 



N. taiten'sis. (Of Otahiti.) Otahiti Curlew. Bristle-bellied Curlew. Of medium 

 size, about equalling X. phceopus ; wing 9.00 or more; tail 4.00 ; bill about 3.50 ; tarsus about 

 2.2.5. Crown with light median and supercihary lines; upper parts brownish-black, with the 

 usual tawny variegation ; no white on rump, taU, or lining of wings ; tail and its coverts tawny, 

 the coverts spotted or streaked with dusky, the rectrices pretty regularly and firmly baiTcd with 

 about 6 dusky bands, and tipped with tawny-white ; lining of ^vings and axillars fully barred 

 with tawny and dusky. Primaries blackish, varied to some extent on inner webs, the shaft of 

 the first white. Under parts pale tawny, the chin white, the jugulum thickly streaked, the 

 sides more loosely barred with dusky, but most of under parts immaculate, and many feathers, 

 especially of the flanks, ending in long glistening bristles. Bill and feet dark. Alaska, not 

 common, perhaps only a straggler from Asia ; a well-known and abundant curlew of various 

 Pacific islands, only recently added to our fauna. 



