THE CURLEWS. 317 



but sometimes darker olive-brown than the latter. Axis, 

 2*o5-2'3 inches; diam., i'45-i"55. 



THE CURLEWS. GENUS NUMENIUS. 



Nunie?uus, Briss. Orn. v. p. 311 (1760). 



Type, N. arquatus (Linn.). 



Nine species of Curlews are admitted by ornithologists, of 

 which four may be considered to be true Curlews, viz., N'. arcua- 

 tus, N. te7iuirostris of the Mediterranean region, N. cyanopus of 

 Australia, and N. longirostris of North America. All of these 

 have the head marked like the back, and do not show a pale 

 median stripe along the crown like the other species of the 

 genus, viz., the Whimbrels. Taking our common species of 

 Whimbrel as the type of the second section, we find five species, 

 all of which have the sides of the crown dark, with a broad pale 

 band down the centre. The Whimbrels are : — our own species 

 and its eastern race N. variegatus, N. Jmdsonicus and N. borea- 

 lis of North America, and N. tahitiensis of the Pacific Islands. 

 Thus it will be seen that the genus Numenms is well nigh 

 cosmopolitan in its range. 



I. THE COMMON CURLEW. NUMENIUS ARQUATUS. 



Scolopax arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 242 (1766). 

 Au?nenius arquatus, Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 243 (1852); Dres- 

 ser, B. Eur. viii. p. 243, pi. 578 (1873); B. O. U. List 

 Brit. B. p. 179 (1883) ; Saunders, ed. Yarrell's Brit. B. iii. 

 p. 499 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 94 (1885); 

 Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 611 (1889); Lilford, Col. 

 Fig. Brit. B. part xix. (1891); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxiv. p. 341 (1896). 



{Plate XCIL [ai.], Plate XCIIL, Fig. 3 lpuIL\) 

 Adult Male in Breeding Plumage. — General colour above brown, 

 with longitudinal black centres to the feathers imparting a 

 broadly striped appearance, the feathers of the upper surface 

 being notched with ashy or rufous, giving to many of the 

 scapulars a somewhat barred appearance ; wing-coverts dark 



