6j6 ESKIMO CURLEW. 



yV. miuutus of Gould, a slightly smaller species, which has paler and 

 less barred under parts, and moreover has the back of the tarsus 

 scutellated like the front — as in Totainis ; in the American bird the 

 hind tarsus is reticulated, as in other members of the genus Numeiiius. 

 Although the Eskimo Curlew has been obtained in the Galapagos 

 Islands, and also on the coast of Chili, it does not appear to pass 

 down the Pacific sea-board of North America ; its line of flight being 

 rather to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains. Immense numbers 

 migrate through the Mississippi valley, but none winter there, nor is 

 a long stay made in any part of the United States to the north of 

 Texas ; some visit the Bermudas, while others pass southward as far 

 as Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. 



]\Ir. MacFarlane describes the nests, which he found between 

 June 2oth and July loth, as mere hollows in the barren-grounds; 

 the eggs, 4 in number, are olive-drab or light ash-green, blotched 

 with various shades of brown : average measurements 2 by i "5 in. 

 In autumn the bird feeds freely on crowberries, and is so partial 

 to a species of snail found on low rocks and mud-flats that Dr. 

 Elliott Coues has seen flocks hovering distractedly over a party of 

 gunners stationed on ground where these molluscs abounded. The 

 note is an often-repeated soft, mellow whistle ; the flight is straight 

 and very swift. 



The points which distinguish this species from its nearest ally, 

 N. minutus, have already been indicated ; its other diagnostic char- 

 acteristics are : primaries with scarcely a trace of bars, no white on 

 the rump, under parts buff with transverse 'arrow-head' markings, 

 axillaries chestnut barred with brown. Length 14 in. ; wing 8*25 in. 

 As Mr. Seebohm has pointed out in his work on the ' Charadriida^,' 

 the pale stripe down the centre of the dark crown is sufficiently 

 defined to show that this species belongs to the group of Whimbrels 

 rather than that of Curlews ; but I do not consider it expedient to 

 follow his example and change a long-accepted name. 



