Shore-bird Shooting 437 



still goes by the name of curlew bar. Now, an 

 occasional yellowlegs and plover patronize it, or 

 a dowitcher, but never a curlew, — not even the 

 Hudsonian, which is common everywhere around. 

 While under ordinary circumstances a wild bird, 

 the long-billed curlew has a peculiar fondness for 

 its own; and the devotion of the fiock to the fallen 

 and wounded has undoubtedly been a prominent 

 factor in its destruction, the birds answering the 

 cries of those on the ground and circling again and 

 again. Throughout the wilder parts of the West 

 this species is still found, breeding in parts of 

 Dakota and Montana, and ranging along the 

 plains into Texas, southern California, and Mexico. 

 In parts of Texas large numbers are still seen. 

 A flock of thousands was reported from southern 

 Texas in 1899. In Mexico in May, 1901, I saw 

 these birds occasionally in flocks of ten or fifteen. 

 They were on the high mesas at an altitude of 

 about 7000 feet, usually in the vicinity of rolling 

 hills, and kept to the short, dry grass, feeding on 

 grasshoppers and other insects. Occasionally the 

 Hudsonian curlew mingled with them. Earlier 

 in the spring at Tampico, I saw a few sicklebill 

 about the lagoon, in one instance on the outer 

 beach. This bird undoubtedly breeds over a large 

 part of its range. Captain Bendire found nests in 

 eastern Oregon in wet meadows ; it generally util- 

 izes for this purpose the high, dry prairies, con- 



