SCOL OP A CID/E : C URL E WS. 



843 



v^^--^/K^ 



bluish ; iris brown. Alaska, not common, perhaps only a straggler from Asia ; a \vell-kno\vn 

 and abundant Whimbrel of various Pacific islands, first added to our Fauna from a specimen 

 taken at Kadiak by F. Bischoff, May 18, 1869, recorded as N. femoralis in Am. Nat. 1874, 

 p. 435; next found by Nelson, May 24, 1880, noted as N. tahitiensis iu "Cruise Corwin," 

 1883, p. 90, and figured in Nelson's Alaska, p. 1:>I, pi. 9; A. 0. U. Lists, No. [268]. N. 

 taitensis Coues, Key, 2d-4th eds. 1884-90, p. 646. 



N. hudson'icus. (Of Hudson's Bay. Fig. 594.) American Whimbrel. HudsOxMAN 

 Curlew. Jack Curlew. Jack. Striped-Head. Crooked-billed Marlin. Of me- 

 dium size ; bill mod- 



erate in length, stout, 

 curved. Bill 3-4 

 inches long. Length 

 16.00-18.00; extent 

 about 32.00 ; wing 

 9.00-10.00; tail 3.50; 

 tarsus 2.25-2.50. 

 General tone of col- 

 oration scarcely ru- 

 fous ; under parts, and 

 variegation of uj)per, 

 being whitish or 

 o ch rac eo u s. No 

 white on rump, tail, 

 or lining of wings. 

 Top of head uniform 

 blackish-brown, with 

 well-defined whitish 

 median and lateral 



Fio. 504. — HudsoDian Curlew, much reduced. (From Lewis.) 



stripes (as in plupopas, but neither longirostris nor horeulis). Upper parts brownish-black, 

 speckled with whitish, ochraceous or pale cinnamon-brown, in same pattern as in longirostris, 

 but dark in excess of light colors, and these never strongly rufescent. Tail ashy-brown (not 

 rufous), with numerous narrow blackish bars. Primaries 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 wiiitish 

 iir somewhat ochraceous, only obscurely rufescent on crissum, if anywhere; jugulum and fore- 

 breast with dusky streaks which, as iu other species, change to arrow-heads or incomplete bars 

 on sides of breast and body. Bill blackish, some part of lower mandible pale ; feet livid blu- 

 ish, drying dark. The North American representative of JV. pihccopus, but obviously different; 

 generally distributed, more common, on the whole, than either longirostris i>r borealis ; more 

 common coastwise tlian iu interior ; breeds in high latitudes to extreme northern part of tiie 

 cimtinent, migratory through the U. S., wintering from L. California, Louisiana, and West In- 

 dies through Middle and South America to Patagonia. Eggs usually 4, of intermediate size, not 

 distinguishable with certainty, the markings being as in other species; 2.12-2.30 X about 1.(50. 

 Obs. This Whimbrel is perfectly well known to gunners, who mostly call it "Jack," and 

 never Eskimo or Esquimaux Curlew, the latter beiug a mistake confined to books, and trace- 

 able back through Nuttall and Wilson to Pennant. Neither is it the Doui^^h-bird or Doc-bird 

 of the people, this name belonging to the following species. 



N. borea'lis. (Lat. borealis, northern. Fig. 595.) E.sqI'Imai x or Eskimo Ciulkw. 

 I)()U(iH-BiRD or DoK-BiRD. Fi'TE. Of smallest size ; bill short, slender, aud little curved. 

 Bill 2.00-2..")0. Length I2.00-l.-).0(»: extent :ibout 28.00; wing under 9.(M); tail 3.00; tar- 



