174 BAY-BIRDS. 
white. Adult with the upper part of the head deep 
brown, with a central and two lateral lines of 
whitish ; a brown line from the bill to the eye, and 
another behind the eye; neck all round, pale yel- 
lowish-grey, longitudinally streaked with brown, ex- 
cepting the upper part of the throat, which is grey- 
ish-white; upper parts in general blackish-brown, 
marked with numerous spots of brownish-white, 
there being several along the margins of each 
feather ; wings and rump somewhat lighter ; upper 
tail-coverts and tail barred with dark-brown and 
olivaceous grey ; primaries and their coverts black- 
ish-brown, all with transverse yellowish-grey mark- 
ings on the inner web; the shaft of the first quill, 
white—of the rest, brown; breast and abdomen 
greyish-white, the sides tinged with cream color, 
and barred with greyish-brown; bill rather more 
than twice the length of the head, of a brownish- 
black color—at the base of the lower mandible, flesh 
colored. Length, eighteen inches; wing, nine and 
a half’— Giraud. 
SICKLE-BILL CURLEW. 
Long-billed Curlew. 
Numenius Longirostris, Wils. 
The finest, largest, most graceful, and elegant of 
all the bay-birds is the magnificent sickle-bill ; asso- 
ciating in large flecks, and with a spread of wings 
of little less than three feet, when it approaches the 
stand, the sportsman’s heart palpitates with excite- 
