LONG-BILLED CURLEW 99 



Polk County, on June 17, 1897, which at that date may be assumed to have 

 been a breeding bird. This report of Gleasoai's is the very last record of the 

 long-billed curlew in Minnesota known to the writer. It ceased to be generally 

 abundant somewhere about 18S0 and rapidly decreased in numbers, even as a 

 migrant, until it disappeared entirely about the close of the last century. 



It apparently ceased to breed in Illinois before 1880; the last 

 published breeding record was in 1873, It probably still breeds in 

 the interior of Texas and perhaps on the coastal prairies as well, for 

 J. J. Carroll writes to me that on July 9 and 10, 1926, he saw 8 or 

 10 long-billed curlews near Matagorda Bay that acted as if they had 

 young. It is now a very rare bird at any season east of the Mississippi 

 River. 



Spi'ing. — The spring migration is now a general northward move- 

 ment throughout the western half of the United States; there was 

 formerly a heavy flight up the Atlantic coast as far as the Caro- 

 linas and a straggling flight farther north. The migration begins 

 in March, but the main movement is during April and most of the 

 birds reach their breeding grounds in April. Only one of my corre- 

 spondents in Manitoba and Alberta mentions the long-billed curlew 

 and he has seen only one in 15 years ; so it must be disappearing very 

 rapidly there. 



Courtshiqy. — The spring behavior of these curlews, or what might 

 be called a nuptial flight is thus described by P. M. Silloway (1900) : 



After their arrival, the curlews inhabit the high, dry prairies, flying restlessly 

 from one portion to another, showing a tendency to associate in pairs, though 

 as couples, these birds are not inseparable. In the mating season, one of the 

 pair is likely to follow the other in a few moments, when the first bird has 

 flown far over the prairie to a more distant station. At any time the loud, 

 prolonged whistling of these birds, either when on the ground or a-wing, will 

 call attention to their movements, warning the disturber of their domain that 

 his presence is known and that his actions will be watched with the closest 

 interest. 



One of the pleasing sights to the ornithologist in watching the behavior of 

 these curlews is seen when a pair are sailing upward in company abreast of 

 the wind, moving in perfect accord on widespread, motionless pinions curved 

 gently downward, within several feet of each other, then fluttering downward 

 side by side or one in advance of the other, again to sail upward, uttering 

 the characteristic whistles. 



Nesting. — The long-billed curlew is likely to nest almost anywhere 

 on the boundless prairie, though we have found it, in Saskatchewan, 

 shov\ang a decided preferance for damp, grassy hollows in the prairie, 

 or long slopes near the lakes or watercourses. The nest is a very 

 simple affair, a slight hollow in the ground, usually thinly lined with 

 grasses or weeds ; but sometimes quite a substantial platform of grass 

 is made and slightly hollowed. The female is often quite conspicu- 

 ous, as she sits on the nest with her neck stretched out on the ground. 



