Shore-bird Shooting 435 



field or dry, short marsh, perhaps a stubble, affords 

 the spot. They lay four eggs on the ground so 

 closely like the surroundings that it is almost 

 impossible to see them. At this time the birds 

 frequent the fields, perching on the fences, and 

 the usual note becomes varied almost into a song, 

 bright and cheery like all around when May is at 

 its height. This species, from its wide distribu- 

 tion and sociable, familiar habits, goes by a variety 

 of names, such as tilt-up or peetweet, and teeter. 



A 



LQNG-BILLED CURLEW 



(^Niimenius loiigirostris) 



Adult 7nale and female in breeding plumage — Upper parts, pale 

 rufous, tinged with gray, each feather marked with transverse 

 bands of black, most numerous on the back and scapulars ; 

 feathers of head, striped with black ; under wing-coverts and 

 axillars, bright rufous ; under parts, pale rufous, and streaks of 

 black on neck and sides ; bill, black, becoming light brown on 

 the base of the mandible ; legs and feet, gray ; iris, brown. 

 Other plumages are similar but vary in the rufous color, which 

 in some instances is pale and worn. 



Downy young — Buffy yellow, becoming sulphur-yellow on abdo- 

 men ; upper part irregularly spotted with black ; bill, straight, 

 1.40 inches in length. 



Measurements — Length, 25 inches; wing, 10.50 inches; tail, 4 

 inches; tarsus, 2.50 inches; culmen, 6 to 8.50 inches in the 

 adult. 



Eggs — Three or four in number ; ground color, grayish white or buff, 

 spotted and blotched with umber; measure 2.80 by 1.85 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from Texas, western Missouri, Colorado, Utah, 

 Nevada, northeastern California, and probably Arizona, north 

 to eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Assiniboia, and western 

 Manitoba, and probably on the coast of Louisiana and southern 

 Florida. Winters in western California, Lower California, and 



