'iA.S Mackay on the Hndsonian Curlevj. [October 



and resorting to the marshes and uplands when driven from the 

 former by the in-coming tide. They feed on fiddler crabs, grass- 

 hoppers, and the large gray sand spiders {Lycosa) which live in 

 holes in the sand among the beach grass adjacent to headlands, 

 huckleberries, which they pick from the bushes, and beetles 

 {^Lachno sterna^ Scarabaeidae) , all of which are usually mixed 

 with coarse gravel. When a flock of these birds is on the 

 ground where they have been feeding, they become scattered, 

 twenty-five or thirty birds covering fifteen or twenty yards' space. 

 At such times they do not appear to be particularly active, 

 moving about in a rather slow, stately manner, although I have 

 once in a while seen them run. During such times I have occa- 

 sionally noticed one or more birds fly away from the flock, al- 

 though undisturbed. At other times I have seen a single one or 

 a pair pass over the flock which was resting on the ground and 

 neither pay the slightest attention to the other, which seems pe- 

 culiar as I should expect the ones flying to join those on the ground. 

 I am informed, on what I consider good authority, that by keeping 

 concealed, the whole of a flock of young birds, when on the 

 ground, may be killed by repeated shots without their taking 

 flight ; I have never had an opportunity of testing it, but it certainly 

 would be impossible to accomplish such a result with the old 

 birds. These young birds may be distinguished from the adults 

 by their generally younger appearance and lighter colored plu- 

 mage. Their legs also will bend when the older ones' will break. 

 They are known to the local gunners as ' Blue-legs,' from their 

 legs being lighter colored than those of the adults, and also as 

 ' Foolish Curlew,' the latter on account of their tameness in 

 comparison with the older birds. 



When passing to and from their feeding grounds they usually 

 fly at an altitude of about thirty yards, unless it is quite windy, 

 when they keep within a few feet of the ground, or water, if they 

 are passing over it. I have seen them flying only a few feet 

 above the water during their migration south in July. As the 

 season advances the birds frequent the beach grass near the shore, 

 and at such times the young birds can be driven up to with horse 

 and wagon ; but rarely, if ever, can the adult birds be so ap 

 preached. The adults appear about the fifteenth of July, the 

 greater portion going south by the end of the month, and it 

 seems to reT'.ire from three to four weeks before all have passed. 



