THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 683 



and ochraceous-buff : tone lightening on wings, due to preponderance of latter 

 color; tail distinctly barred, ochraceous-gray and dusky; quills less distinctly 

 barred with same tints, except on outer webs of outer primaries, which are plain 

 dusky; axillars and lining of wing clear ochraceous-buft', heavilj' barred with 

 fuscous; bill decurved. blackish above, lightening at base of mandible; feet and 

 legs black. Length 16.50-18.00 (419.1-457.2) ; wing 9.75 (247.6); tail 3.50 

 (88.9) : bill 3.50 (88.9) ; tarsus 2.28 (57.9). 



Recognition Marks. — Small Crow size; mottled and streaked, dusky and 

 pale buff; rather stout decurved bill of moderate length; broad, blackish crown- 

 stripes. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Washington. Eggs: 3-4, pale olive, spotted 

 with dull brown. Av. size, 2.27 x 1.57 (57.7x38.9). 



General Range. — All of North and South America, including the West 

 Indies; breeds in the high north, and winters chiefly south of the United States. 



Range in Washington. — Fairly common during migrations, chiefly coast- 

 wise. 



Migrations. — Spring: Hoquiam, April 19, 1891 ( Lawrence) ; Tacoma, Apr. 

 26, 1897. Fall: Destruction Island. July 15, 1906; Ozette, July 25, 1906. 



Authorities. — Lawrence, Auk, \'ol. IX. Jan. 1892, p. 43. L". Rh. Kb. B. E. 

 Specimens. — (L'. of W.) Prov. B. 



"JACK" CURLEWS begin to appear upon our mud flats and in the 

 vicinity of salt water marshes about the middle of April, and by the first of 

 May have become common in suitable localities. They are, perhaps, not so 

 wary as their long-billed cousins, of which they are lesser and unexaggerated 

 models. They move in flocks varying in number from four or five to several 

 hundred : and in manner of flight they appear not unlike gulls, at a little distance. 



When feeding, the birds move about nimbly, and their enthusiasm some- 

 times provokes the mirth of the beholder. If on the mud flats, the Curlew 

 plunges its bill like a probe into the mud. and jabs excitedly when it encounters 

 some reluctant crab or worm. L^pon the tide-washed rocks, also, the bird is very 

 agile: and few of the many-legged, scuttling creatures succeed in evading it. 

 A Curlew, reaching for a salt}' tidbit with partially opened mandibles, reminds 

 one absurdl}" of a bespectacled entomologist with his tweezers. Berries consti- 

 tute a chief article of diet for these birds in the uplands of Alaska, and the\- not 

 onlv become exceedingly fat, but their breasts are empurpled with the juices. 



If the birds' suspicions are aroused by the stealthy approach of the hunter, 

 they cease feeding and stand motionless for a time, awaiting the issue of the 

 man's intent. \\'hen frightened, they take to wing with loud cries; but if one 

 or more of their number are stopped by the hurtling shot, the rest remain for 

 some moments to indulge that fatal sympathy which is so characteristic of the 

 lesser shore birds. 



Nesting is carried on in June and July, in the dim interior of Alaska, and 

 along the northern borders of the continent. The greater number pass upon 



