40 Proceedings of the 



who lived at Silver Creek up to the early '90's, told Mr. P. I. 

 Hoagland that in the early days the birds were very abundant 

 there, as much so as the Passenger Pigeon in the east, and that 

 hundreds would be shot in a single day. 



In the '80's the Eskimo Curlew began decreasing rapidly. Ap- 

 parently many of the birds moved their line of migration to the 

 westward. Gunners reported flights passing through Grand 

 Island, Kearney and North Platte after they had practically dis 

 appeared from eastern Nebraska, but no specimens are extant to 

 verify these reports. April 2, 1884, the species was reported 

 from Alda, Nebraska"*. Rev. J. M. Bates informs me that War- 

 den D. A. Piercy of All Saints' church at Kennedy, Cherry 

 county, states that during the first years of his residence there. 

 1885-1887, the Eskimo Curlew was as common as its congener, 

 the Long-billed Curlew. In 1889 Rev. Bates saw a mounted 

 specimen of this bird in a store near Wood Lake. Cherry county, 

 which had been taken near that place. In 1889 Mr. Charles E. 

 Holmes, now of Proxidence, R. I., reported the Eskimo Curlew 

 as common locally in the hilh about forty miles south of Ains 

 worth. Brown county, though they were decreasing and many 

 were killed by cowboys^". 



By the "90"s the Eskimo Curlew was so reduced in numbers 

 that hunters rarely met with it and there are no records of speci- 

 mens taken during the next twenty years, though it was repeat- 

 edly reported as seen by competent observers. In 1896 Mr. I. S. 

 Trostler reported the Eskimo Curlew as still a "common" migrant 

 at Omaha, giving its dates as April 1 to 20 in the spring and Oc- 

 tober 1 to 15 in the fall. On April 12, 1896, Mr. J. S. Hunter saw 

 a pair of Eskimo Curlew near Stevens creek, several miles east 

 of I>incoln. It might also be mentioned here that about 1897. 

 Mr. P. I. Hoagland saw a flock of these birds near Laramie. 

 Wyoming, so late in the spring that he wondered if the birds 

 could be expecting to nest there. 



About the middle of 7\pril, 1900, Mr. Paul 1. Hoagland and his 

 father, of Omaha, were hunting near Clarks, Nebraska, when a 

 large flock containing seventy or seventy-five birds flew across 

 the road and disappeared over the hill. Mr. Hoagland, Sr., rec- 



