[148] BIRDS OF OREGON 



with a startling scarp, scarp from beneath the very feet of an observer, to 

 corkscrew through the air for a short distance before dropping again 

 into the grass, is a familiar sight to most Oregonians interested in the 

 out-of-doors. The boring made in the soft mud in searching for earth- 

 worms and similar delicacies that are neatly seized by the flexible tips of 

 the bill and extracted from their subterranean homes with skill and dis- 

 patch is likewise quite familiar. Less well-known but common in the 

 spring evenings, though not always staged in the twilight, is the curious 

 "winnowing" sound this snipe makes in connection with its courtship 

 antics. Most observers believe the sound to be produced by the widely 

 spread tail feathers, by the wing, or by a combination of both during 

 the courtship flights. 



On October i, 192.7, while hunting birds together on the Columbia 

 bottoms east of Portland on a foggy rainy day, we saw a flock of about 

 X5 heavy-bodied, long-billed snipe flash into view through the mist. 

 They were in close formation, wheeling and turning abruptly in synchro- 

 nized motion, exactly as is commonly done by the smaller shore birds. 

 We first thought they were dowitchers, but the birds looked too big. 

 Finally the flock swung close and we fired into it, bringing down one 

 bird. To our astonishment, it proved to be this species. We have seen 

 only one other published account of such a performance by the Jacksnipe, 

 and neither of us has ever witnessed it except on that occasion. 



Long-billed Curlew: 



Numemus americanus americanus Bechstein 



DESCRIPTION. "Plumage light cinnamon, barred and mottled on upper parts with 

 dusky and black; outer webs of outer quills wholly black; head, neck, throat, and 

 chest streaked with dusky; crown mainly dusky; belly plain cinnamon; chin 

 whitish." (Bailey) Downy young: "The young curlew, when first hatched, is com- 

 pletely covered with long, thick, soft down. The color varies from 'warm buff"' on 

 the breast and flanks, to 'cream buff" on the face, upper parts and belly and to 'cream 

 color' on the throat; the crown is even paler. The markings, which are brownish 

 black in color, consist of a broken and narrow median stripe on the forehead, irreg- 

 ular spotting on the posterior part of the head and large, bold, irregular spotting 

 on the back, wings, and thighs." (Bent) Si%e: "Length 2.0-2.6, wing 10.00-11.00, 

 bill 2.. 50 in young of year to 8.50 in old birds, tarsus 3.00-3.50." (Bailey) Nesf: 

 A slight depression in the ground, lined with grass. Eggs: 4, buff, with uniform 

 spotting of browns and olives (Plate 40, A). 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, 

 Manitoba, and Wisconsin south to Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Ari- 

 zona, Nevada, and northern California. Winters from central California, Arizona, 

 Texas, Louisiana, and South Carolina south to Mexico and Lower California. In 

 Oregon: Rather uncommon summer resident and breeding bird of eastern Oregon. 

 Arrives in April and remains until August. Casual west of Cascades. 



TOWNSEND (1839) first listed the Long-billed Curlew (Plate 39, B~) for 

 Oregon, and Suckley (1860) reported it as a breeding bird near The Dalles. 



