NUMENINiF.. 685 



Bill dusky, reddish at tlie base ; irides brown ; legs dark bluish 

 grey. Length 16 to 18 inches ; extent 29 ; wing 9i to 10 ; tall 

 3| ; bill at front 3 to 3^ ; tarsus 



The Whimbrel is found throughout India, and is more abundant 

 than the Curlew. It frequents similar localities, and, is always 

 found in flocks, in marshy ground, near lakes and rivers, and 

 like the last, is more numerous in the vicinity of the" sea-coast 

 than inland. It is excellent eating, perhaps better than the 

 Curlew, and has been called the ' Wood-cock' of Bengal. It has 

 a similar geographical distribution to the Curlew, but breeds 

 further North. 



There are many species of Curlew recorded from all parts of 

 the world, very similar in plumage, and some doubtfully distinct 

 as species. One, said to be well marked, N. temiirostris, is stated 

 to have been met with in Burmah. 



Gen. Ibidorhynchus, Vigors. 



Syn. Clorhynchus, Hodgson — Erolia, Hodgson. 



Char. — Bill long, slender, beak well curved, scarcely dilated at 

 the tip, upper mandible grooved; tomiae inflexed and denticulated; 

 nostrils wide, linear, basal; wings long, with the 1st quill longest; 

 tertiaries lengthened ; tail rather short, even, of 12 feathers; tarsi 

 short, stout ; tibia bare for a very small space ; anterior toes short ; 

 outer toe free or nearly so ; hind toe wanting ; nails short, obtuse. 



This remarkable form is, says Hodgson, * a curlew with short legs 

 and the feet of a Plover.' Gould remarks that its feet are like 

 those of Hcematopus, and its bill that of an Ibis. 



879. Ibidorhynchus Struthersii, Vigors. 



Gould, Cent. Him. Birds, pi. 19— Blyth, Cat. 1577 — Erolia 

 (red billed,) Hodgson, J. A. S., IV. 459 — Clorhynchus strophia- 

 tus, Hodgson, 1. c, p. 761. 



The Red-billed Curlew. 



Deser. — Whole head, as far as the eyes, black, mixed in some, 

 (query females,) with grey about the base of the bill, and margined 

 with white towards the body; the rest of the plumage olive, with 



