a 
466 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
NUMENIUS, Linnus. 
« 
Numenius, Linnmus. Syst. Nat. (1746). (Type Scolopax arquata, L.) 
Legs covered anteriorly with transverse scutelle, laterally and behind with small 
hexagonal scales; bill very long, exceeding the tibia, and curved downwards for 
the terminal half; the culmen rounded; tip of bill expanded laterally, and club- 
shaped; grooves of bill not reaching beyond the middle; tertials as long as pri- 
maries. 
NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS. — Wilson. 
The Long-billed Curlew; Sickle-bill Curlew. 
Numenius longirostris, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 24. Nutt. Man., II. 
(1884) 88. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 240; V. 587. Jb., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 
a DESCRIPTION. 
The largest American species of this genus; bill very long, much curved; upper 
mandible longer than the under, somewhat knobbed at the tip; wing rather long; 
legs moderate; toes united at base; entire upper parts pale-rufous, tinged with 
ashy; every feather with transverse and confluent bands of brownish-black, most 
numerous and predominating on the back and scapulars; secondary quills, under 
wing coverts, and axillaries, bright-rufous; primaries with their outer webs brownish- 
black, and their inner webs rufous, with transverse bands of black; under parts 
pale-rufous, with longitudinal lines of black on the neck and sides; tail rufous, 
tinged with ashy, transversely barred with brownish-black; bill* brownish-black; 
_ base of under mandible reddish-yellow; legs bluish-brown; specimens vary to some 
extent in the shade of the rufous color of the plumage, and very much in the length 
of the bill; the rufous color is probably more distinct in the young; iris hazel. 
Total length, about twenty-five inches; wing, ten to eleven; tail, four; bill, five 
to eight; tarsus, two and a quarter inches. 
Hab. — The entire temperate regions of North America. 
This species is not very abundant on our coast in the 
spring and autumn. Wilson, in describing its habits, 
says, — 
“ Like the preceding, this bird is an inhabitant of marshes in the 
vicinity of the sea. It is also found in the interior, where, from 
its long bill, and loud, whistling note, it is generally known. 
“'The Curlews appear in the salt marshes of New Jersey about 
the middle of May, on their way to the north; and in September, 
on their return from their breeding-places. Their food consists 
chiefly of small crabs, which they are very dexterous at probing 
for, and pulling out of the holes with their long bills; they also 
feed on those small sea-snails so abundant in the marshes, and on 
