THE SICKLE-BILLED CURLEW 215 



edges to the feathers. Primaries and second- 

 aries dusky brown, darkening at the ends and 

 white-tipped. Webs of secondaries and inner 

 webs of primaries grayish white, speckled and 

 blotched with black — a marking which locates 

 this bird at once. Axillars and linings of wings 

 whitish or pale reddish. Iris brown ; bill black ; 

 legs greenish. Tail feathers shading like the 

 upland's from dark brown, almost greenish, on 

 the central to light brownish yellow on the outer 

 ones, these tipped with white and with a sub- 

 terminal bar of black. Central tail feathers 

 slightly longer than the others. Male and fe- 

 male marked alike. Length from seven and 

 one-half to eight inches; extent varying from 

 fifteen to sixteen inches. 



THE SICKLE-BILLED CURLEW. 



(Numenius longirostris.) 



The Sickle-billed Curlew is of great size ; the 

 largest of the game waders. It is a long time 

 since one has been taken in northern New Eng- 

 land, and while more are captured in the south- 

 ern portions, even there it is not numerous. The 

 few that have been procured have nearly all 



