70 BIRDS OP ILLINOIS. 



only tho basal half or third of the bill; under mandible not grooved beneath. Cleft of 

 mouth extending but little beyond the base of culmen. Feathers of head extending about 

 the same distance on both mandibles; those of chin to opposite the anterior extremity of 

 tho nostrils. Tarsi nearly twice as long as middle toe, rather more than twice the bare part 

 of tibia. It is covered behind by hexagonal scales larger than the lateral ones. Outer toe 

 webbed at its basal joint; inner for halt this distance. Tail short, nearly oven, not quite 

 half tho wings. 



Of the genus Nimicnim several species are found in Nortli 

 America., none of them occurring regularly in the Old AVorld, as 

 is the case with so many of the Trlnghue. 



The three species occurring in eastern North America may be 

 distinguished as follows: 



1. N. longirostris. Wing, :o.00-12.00; culmen, S.SO-ri.OO; tarsus, 2.25-3.50; middle toe, 1.30- 

 l.T'b. Lower parts pale cinnamon; axillars deep cinnamon, without distinct bars; 

 crown uniformly streaked, without median stripe. Ilah. Temperate North America 

 south to Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, and Brazil (?). 



2. N. hadsonious. Wing, 8.0tt-10.25; culmen, 3. OtM. 00; tarsus, 2.2.'i-2. 30; middle toe. 1.35- 

 1.40. Lower parts pale buff, the breast marked with linear streaks ; inner webs of 

 primaries spotted with bufl' toward edges; axillars deeper buff, distinctly liarred 

 with dusky; crown uniform dusky, divided by a median stripe of pale buff. Ilah. 

 Tho whole of America, including West Indies, but breeding only in the colder 

 regions; Greenland. 



3. N, boreaMs, Wing, 8.00-8.50; culmen, 2.25-2.50; tarsus, 1.70-1.80; middle toe, 1.00. 

 Very similar to N. hudsonicus, but breast with V-shaped dusky markings, axillars 

 pale cinnamon, barred with dusky, inner webs of primaries uniform dusky, the 

 whole crown streaked, and without distinct median stripe. Hab. Northern and 

 eastern North America, and southern South America; no West Indian record; 

 CJreenland; occasional in Europe. 



Only two others are known to occur in the New World. One 

 of these {JV. femorcdh) , which has been taken in Alaska, is dis- 

 tiuguislied by having the thighs ornamented b3^ long bristles, 

 the tail and its coverts ochraceous, the latter crossed hx nar- 

 row bands of dusky brown; the size and general coloration 

 much as in iVi hmhonictu^. If. p/neojjtii^, an Old World species 

 which occasionally visits Greenland, is still more like jV. Imd- 

 ftoii/cun. from which it differs chiefly in having the rumi) pure 

 white. 



Numenius longirostis AVils. 



LONO-BILLEB CDRLEW. 



Popular synonyms, Sicklo-bill, or Sickle-bill Snipe or Curlew; Snipe (Salt Lake Val- 

 ley): Big Curlew. 



Xwmeniii.i loitgirostris WiLS. Am. Urn. viii, 1814, 24, pi. 64, flg. 4,— Sw. & KicH. F. B.-A. 

 ii, 1831, 37(i.-NuTT. Man. ii, 1834, !i|.— AuD. Dm. Biog. iii. 1835, 240: v, 1S39, 587, pi. 231: 

 Synop. 1S3H, 254: B. Am. vi, 1843,35, pi. :«>,•),— Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 743.— 



