THE LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 68i 



darkening toward tip ; feet and legs stout, dark : claws short and broad. Length : 

 20.00-26.00 (508-660.4) : wing 10.75 ( 273.1 ) ; tail 4.10 ( 104.1 ) : bill np to 8.50 

 (215.9) : av. about 6.50 ( 165. 1 ) : tarsus 3.15 (80). 



Recognition Marks. — About Crow size, — making SL>nie allowance for bill ; 

 pale cinnamon coloration ; long decurved bill distinctive ; (|uavering crv. 



Nesting. — Xcst: a rather deep grass-lined depression on ground. Eggs: 4, 

 ashy brown or clay-color, spotted and blotched with chocolate. Av. size, 2.58 x 

 1.82 (65.5x46.2). Season: .Ajiril 20-May 10: one brood. 



General Range. — Temperate North America, migrating south to Guatemala, 

 Cuba and Jamaica. Breeds in the South .Atlantic States and in the interior thru 

 most of its North .American range. 



Range in Washington. — Not common summer resident and migrant east of 

 the Cascades: casual, during migrations only, west of the Mountains. Formerly 

 an abundant breeder on the East-side, especially between the Cascades and the 

 Columbia River. 



Migrations. — Spying: c. .April ist; Alalott, .April 6, 1896. 



Authorities. — Cooper and Sucklev, Re]i. Pac. R. R. Surv. XII. pt. II. i860, 

 p. 245. T. 1.--. Rh. D'. n--. Kk. J. 



Specimens. — ( U. of W. ) Prov. C. 



THE Long-billed Curlew, or Sickle-bill, is a little the largest, as he is one 

 of the best known birds of the order in \\'ashingtiin. Casual or rare west of 

 the Cascade Mountains, this odd genius was formerly jilentiful and well ilis- 

 tributed thruout the open countr)- of the interior. Being less dependent than 

 most of his congeners upon the \icinity of water, he was to be found equallv 

 upon the upland prairies, the bunch-grass hills, or in the well-watered 

 valleys, — in fact, wherever the sage was not so abundant as to den\- a varied 

 fare of land molluscs, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and fallen berries, 

 such as the Curlew loves. 



.Arriving from the South aljout the first of .April the birds nio\e in large 

 flocks, sometimes to the number of a hundred or more, in continually shifting 

 lines and /\-shaped figures — like the geese in that some experienced leader 

 maintains a position at the front. .Altho wary and difiicult of approach, sa\-e 

 at the nesting season, clums\" efforts at imitation of their qua\'ering call will 

 serve to bring the birds up eagerly. Once within range the Curlews are so 

 overcome bv solicitude for their fallen comrades that they are exposed to 

 repeated attack until the hunter is satisfied. The "wagon-l(_iads" reported 

 from the Columbia A'alle}' in an earlier da}- were, unfortunately, no exaggera- 

 tion, and the ranchers today who occasionally see a Curlew may not realize 

 how fearfnllv their ranks ha\'e been depleted. 



Save in the fall of the year when the birds are fat, the flesh is tough and 

 drv, and in man\- cases positivelv unpleasant. But if it tasted like twisted 

 artemisia fibers, frail human nature could hardlv endure to see so large a bird 



