682 THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 



and sucli an "easy" mark tloiirisli unmolested. Kill il, by all means, and thns 

 tulfil the destiny of Ijnddint^' manhood! The best opjjorlnnitv is afforded 

 when the hinl alights an<l panses for a moment willi uplifted wings, a \-acht 

 of the desert come to anchor at the ancestral roadstead. 



During the nesting season, the Sickle-bill throws c;iution to the winds, 

 anil huri'ies f<irwar<l to meet a prospecti\-e intru<ler with protesting shrieks. 

 If the newcomer be reall}' curious as to the whereabouts of the nest, both 

 birds will circle and flap and hover and \'ociferate until one niigln think that 

 Hedlam had broken loose. The extraordinar\- bill of this bird, sotnetimes 

 eight or e\en nine inches in length, serves ailniirably as a ])air of chop-sticks, 

 and will pick u]) a wee\'il as deftly as a Chinese a grain of rice; but as a 

 \ehicle of emotion the \'ibrating manilililes are delicioush- absurd. Kcr- 

 cr cr-cr iik. L\-r cr-cr-cr-uk comes torrentially and unceasingly from the 

 anxious throats until one feels forced to join in the excitemetit, lu'stericallv. 

 Shoo! \r>u \awping lermiganls \n\\\ 



The nest is a mere grass-lined depression in the ground of ])asture or hill- 

 side, and m;i\' or ma\' nr>t ha\'e con\enient access to brook or lake or swamp. 

 The eggs. normalK- four in numl)ei-. may be found by the _'Oth or e\'en the 15th 

 of .\|)ril. The\' are the size of large hens" eggs, pale Intft'v-brown or clay- 

 colored, \arionsl\- spotted and blotched with a rich dark brown, and sometimes 

 e.xhi!)itiug ti-;ices of \iolet outcropping from the deeper strata (d' the shell. 

 Onl\- one l)rood is raiseil in a season. 



It is high lime to retire this quaint and interesting fellow from the list 

 of "game ]>irds" and to afford him al)solute protection. The struggle for ex- 

 istence will be iiard enough for him under the conditions imposed b\- cix'iliza- 

 tion, without our compassing his absolute destruction merely that a few nii^ire 

 light-hearted pots ma\' l)oil. Curlews are still common in certain spots where 

 the\' ha\'e been wont to assemble for migrations, but iheii' total numbers ha\c 

 certainh- been reduced to less than one-{|uarter. pmliabl)' nearer one-eighth, of 

 their former projiortions. 



No. 278. 



HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 



.\. O. IT. No. 265. Numeniiis hiidsonicus l.atli. 



Synonym. — J.\ck Ci'Ri.i:w. 



Description. — .\dtiU: Prevailing color pale huffy; crown with two broad 

 dusky stripes ])arted by butl'y; a dusky line thru c}e ; throat whitish, immaculate: 

 sides of head, neck all around, and fore-breast finely streaked with dusky: the 

 streaks, widening into bars on sides and flanks : back, etc., dusky, varied with huffy 



