CATALOGUE OF VERTEBRATES. 597 



NUMBNIUS, Briss. 

 N. longirostris, Wils. , Long-billed Curlew. Sickle-bill. 



Pale cinnamon, varied above with blackish, dusky and gray. 

 Length, 24 inches ; tail, 4 jnches ; bill, 5 to 9 inches. 



"Arrive in May, and are with us till late in September. They 

 fly in flocks of about twenty, sometimes more, and usually have 

 a ' leader ; ' their whole appearance while on the wing not unlike 

 the Canada goose. Single specimens have frequently been killed 

 inland. One at Trenton, in 1859." 



N. hudsonicus, Lath. Hudsonian Curlew. Jack Curlew. 



Similar to preceding, but paler ; secondaries and quills darker ; 

 crown with a narrow, median light stripe, besides broad lateral 

 stripes. Length, 18 inches; tail, S^ inches; bill, 3J inches. 



"Arrive in May. Not as abundant as the preceding, and have 

 not been found inland. Frequent mud-flats and go in small 

 companies. Have generally all disappeared by August 15th." 



N. borealis, Forst. Esquimaux Curlew. Dough Bird. 



Crown narrowly streaked and without median light stripe ; 

 plumage more reddish; breast with V-shaped marks of dusky. 

 Length, 14 inches ; tail, 3 inches ; bill, 2h inches. Breeds in 

 Northern North America ; in winter, migrates as far as southern 

 end of South America. 



" Not very abundant. Makes its appearance very late in the 

 summer, and is seen as late as November 1st. Frequents mea- 

 dows, and feeds largely upon grasshoppers." 



Family CHARADRIIDiE. 



Plovers. 



CHARADRIUS, L. 



C dominicue, Miill. {virginicus — Abbott's Catalogue.) American Golden 

 Plover. Frost Bird. 



Bill soft and flexible, fitted for probing in mud ; no hind toe ; 



plumage dark and grayish above, profusely speckled, some of the 



spots bright yellow ; grayish below (black in breeding season, in 



