70 



SHORE BIKDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



XuifieniiiH borealis. 



NUHENIUS BOREALIS (Forst.}. 

 Eskimo Curlew. Dough Bird. 



Adult in summer: Bill, curved down- 

 ward, general plumage above, mottled black 

 and tawny; chin, whitish; throat and under 

 parts, tawny buff, marked on the throat 



with dark brown, and on the breast with arrow-like brown 



markings ; flank 



and sides of the 



body, tawny, 



the .arrow-like 



marks being 



much heavier 



and larger ; top 



of the head 



showing no cen- 

 tral stripe of 



butty white ; in- 

 ner web of first 



primary with- 



out bars: axil- 

 lars, barred with slaty brown. Filst primary. Axiiiare. 



Adult in winter: Lacking the tawny color of 



the summer plumage; more whitish on the under parts, otherwise the markings beino- 

 similar. 



Length, 13; wing, 8.10; tarsus, 2; bill, 2.75 to 3.50. 



It ranges from the arctic regions, where it breeds, southward to South 

 America. It is more common in the interior than on the coast, although it 

 was :it one time a common bird in the New England States during the migra- 

 tions. It prefers the fields to the beaches, being often found in company with 

 the Golden Plover. The eggs are described as pale olive gray, spotted with 

 dark brown, mostly at the larger end. 



