466 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



NUMENIUS, LINN^US. 



Numenius, LINNAEUS. Syst. Nat. (1746). (Type Scolopax arquata, L.) 

 Legs covered anteriorly with transverse scutellae, laterally and behind with small 

 hexagonal scales; bill very long, exceeding the tibia, and curved downwards for 

 the terminal half; the culmen rounded ; tip of bill expanded laterally, and club- 

 shaped; grooves of bill not reaching beyond the middle; tertials as long as pri- 

 maries. 



NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS. 

 The Long-billed Curlew; Sickle-bill Curlew. 



Numenius longirostris, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 24. 'Nutt. Man., IL 

 (1834) 88. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 240; V. 587. Ib., Birds Am., VI. (1843) 



85. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The largest American species of this genus; bill very long, much curved; upper 

 mandible longer than the under, somewhat knobbed at the tip; wing rather long; 

 legs moderate; toes united at base; entire upper parts pale-rufous, tinged with 

 ashy; every feather with transverse and confluent bands of brownish-black, most 

 numerous and predominating on the back and scapulars ; secondary quills, under 

 wing coverts, and axillaries, bright-rufous ; primaries with their outer webs brownish- 

 black, and their inner webs rufous, with transverse bands of black ; under parts 

 pale-rufous, with longitudinal lines of black on the neck and sides; tail rufous, 

 tinged with ashy, transversely barred with brownish-black; bill brownish-black; 

 base of under mandible reddish-yellow; legs bluish-brown; specimens vary to some 

 extent in the shade of the rufous color of the plumage, and very much in the length 

 of the bill ; the rufous color is probably more distinct in the young ; iris hazel. 



Total length, about twenty-five inches; wing, ten to eleven; tail, four; bill, five 

 to eight; tarsus, two and a quarter inches. 



Hab. The entire temperate regions of North America. 



This species is not very abundant on our coast in the 

 spring and autumn. Wilson, in describing its habits, 

 says, 



" Like the preceding, this bird is an inhabitant of marshes hi the 

 vicinity of the sea. It is also found in the interior, where, from 

 its long bill, and loud, whistling note, it is generally known. 



" The Curlews appear in the salt marshes of New Jersey about 

 the middle of May, on their way to the north ; and in September, 

 on their return from their breeding-places. Their food consists 

 chiefly of small crabs, which they are very dexterous at probing 

 for, and pulling out of the holes with their long bills ; they also 

 feed on those small sea-snails so abundant in the marshes, and on 



