SNIPE AND SANDPIPERS: Family Scolofacidae [ 149 ] 



It formerly bred commonly in the grassy meadows of eastern Oregon, 

 particularly in Klamath, Lake, Harney, Umatilla, Union, and Baker 

 Counties, and still is to be found nesting in most if not all of these coun- 

 ties in limited numbers (earliest date, April 3, Umatilla County; latest, 

 August 2.5, Harney County, Bailey ms.). In recent years we have found 

 it in small numbers in Umatilla, Morrow, Lake, and Harney Counties in 

 the breeding season. Egg dates in our own notes as well as in literature 

 vary from May 4 to June 6. In western Oregon, the species may be 

 regarded as a straggler only. Prill took one at Scio, Linn County, August 

 2.2., 192.6, and Gabrielson took one on the Lincoln County coast near 

 Yachats, July X4, 192.2.. 



About the nesting ground the Long-billed Curlews are noisy birds, 

 flying about in circles or diving frantically at an intruder, all the while 

 uttering a constant succession of shrill cries. This is the largest of the 

 shore birds found in Oregon; its brown color and long decurved bill, taken 

 in connection with its size, render it a species easily identified. After 

 the breeding season the birds are to be found in small flocks, often mingled 

 with other shore birds and looking amusingly clumsy among their smaller 

 companions. They are among the earliest of the shore birds to leave and 

 after mid-August are seldom noted. 



Hudsonian Curlew: 



hudsonicus (Latham) 



DESCRIPTION. "Smaller than longirostris \_americanus], with shorter bill and duller 

 coloration; quills plain dusky. Upper parts specked, mottled, and barred with 

 dusky and buff; crown black with middle and side lines of buff; a dusky stripe 

 through eye; under parts buffy, barred and streaked on sides, chest, and neck with 

 dusky. Length: 16.50-18.00, wing 9.00-10.2.5, bill 3-4, tarsus 2.. 2.5-2.. 30." (Bailey) 

 Nest: A depression in the ground, lined with grass and leaves. Eggs: 4, olive green, 

 marked with brown to lavender spots and blotches. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds on Arctic Coast of Alaska and northern Mackenzie. 

 Winters from southern California, Louisiana, and South Carolina southward far 

 into South America. In Oregon: Migrant only, somewhat more common in fall 

 than spring, but not abundant in either season. 



LITTLE has been published about the Hudsonian Curlew as an Oregon 

 bird. Woodcock (1902.) listed it as a migrant at Yaquina Bay on the 

 authority of Bretherton, and there are a few migration notes by him in 

 the Biological Survey files, ranging from March 30, earliest date, to June 

 6, latest date, and in the fall from August 10 to 2.4. In addition to this, 

 we have only our own notes. We have found it only along the coast, in 

 Clatsop, Lincoln, Tillamook, and Lane Counties, where it appears on 

 the beaches in small flocks, sometimes along the edges of the surf and at 

 other times on the mud flats of the bays. It is most abundant in early 

 May and during August and with more field work will almost certainly 



