442 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



whistle of alarm startles at once the whole flock, which, taking to wing, 

 speeds away a long distance before again settling down. Abundant in fall 

 and winter, they migrate to the northern regions in spring for the purposes 

 of incubation. 



The following account of the habits of the Long-billed Curlew 

 is condensed from that by Wickershara (3902, pp. 353-356) who 

 observed the species on the southeastern coast of the United States 

 and in the southern Mississippi Valley. Along the seacoast these 

 birds spend the day on sandy flats left bare by the receding tides and 

 here probe for the worms and other forms of animal life which con- 

 stitute their food. In the interior their habits are quite different. 

 Here they live on open prairie land, often far from w-ater. While 

 feeding the birds bob up and down at intervals. As evening ap- 

 proaches they become more restless, bobbing up and down more fre- 

 quently and more rapidly, feeding is suspended, the birds jump from 

 the ground with a loud whistle and fly to join others, and together 

 they go to some distant marsh or pond. When the resting place is 

 approached the leader whistles and is answered by the members of 

 the flock ; then they all drop, sweeping forward and upward, and 

 with wings almost touching above and legs outstretched, they alight 

 quietly. For perhaps five minutes there is no movement, and then 

 the flock breaks and its members run about the shore or wade into 

 the water to drink, after which they preen themselves. Then they 

 quiet down, draw one leg up under the body, tuck the head under 

 one wing, neatly fold the other, and thus settle themselves for the 

 night. The return to the feeding grounds is made in the early morn- 

 ing before daylight, except that when the land is covered with fog 

 they depart at a later hour. 



In the fall the birds are, or were, seen in large flocks, sometimes 

 numbering hundreds of individuals ; they then seem to be more erratic 

 in their movements and behavior than at any other time of the year, 

 save perhaps just before the nesting season. In winter these flocks 

 are broken up, two to twenty being most commonly found together. 

 It is rare that a solitary bird is seen. 



The nesting season of the Long-billed Curlew begins quite early. 

 Eggs were taken on April 30, 1876, at Camp Harney, Harney County, 

 Oregon, and from this date the season extends until well into June, 

 young just hatched having been recorded on June 23, 1895, at Cody, 

 Nebraska (Cooke, 1910, p. 72). Feilner (1865, pp. 423, 428) records 

 finding numerous nests in Butte Valley, in northeastern Siskiyou 

 County, California, May 21, 1860. This is, to date, the sole published 

 breeding record for the species in California, although it is almost 

 certain that it nests also in portions of Modoc County. Feilner (1865, 

 p. 428) says: ". . . In Butte Valley, particularly the western por- 



