SNIPES, SANDPIPERS 183 



water, both in fresh water and along the coast. Near Bangor 

 they usually have departed by September first, but along the 

 coast I have seen a few scattering "Peeps" up to the last of 

 September. 



Genus NUMENIUS Brisson. 



*^264. Nvmenius longirostris Wils. Long-billed Curlew; 

 Sickle-bill. 



Plumage : streaked on head and neck and barred on back with blackish 

 and buff y ; wing coverts, inner portion of primaries, the secondaries and tail 

 buffy rufous with blackish bars or spots ; below ochraceous with streaks of 

 blackish on breast and sometimes bars on the sides ; axillars rufous, rarely 

 barred. Wing 10.00 to 10.80 ; culmen 7.00 ; tarsus 3.25. 



Geog. Dist. — North America, breeding in the interior north to Manitoba; 

 winters from Florida and Texas south to Guatemala, Cuba and Jamaica ; 

 casual in New England. 



County Records. — Cumberland; one at Scarboro, May 2, 1866, (Smith, F. 

 & S. 20, p. 85). Knox; rare visitant in summer, (Norton). Sagadahoc; 

 very rare in August, (Spinney). Washington ; very rare, (Boardman). 



As a casual visitor along the coast this species seems to occur 

 in May and August. The breeding grounds are chiefly in the 

 interior of British America, and it seems quite doubtful if there 

 be any foundation for the oft repeated references to this species 

 breeding in the South Atlantic States. The nest is the usual 

 mere grass lined hollow on the ground and the four pyriform 

 eggs are marked almost the same as those of the Willet, being 

 olive or clay color with chocolate spots and blotches. One is 

 said to measure 2.59 x 1.81, (Ridgw.). In the south they fre- 

 quent muddy flats and shores, but in their breeding grounds are 

 said to prefer grassy uplands. The food consists of worms, grass- 

 hoppers, beetles, sand-fleas, small crustaceans and small mollusks. 



265. Numenius hudsonicus Lath. Hudsonian Curlew; 

 American Whimbrel; Short-billed Curlew; Jack Curlew. 



Plumage : above grayish brown with whitish spots on sides of feathers of 

 back ; crown with a narrow medial stripe of buffy and a broad dusky stripe 

 each side ; one or both webs of the primaries barred with buffy and dark ; 



