40 



FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 



autumn, like most of the shore-birds, it gets very fat, and is 

 excellent food. With the bay-men it is familiar by the name 

 of ' Beach Bird.' " — Giroud's Birds of Long Island. 



In addition to these we have the well-known, common and 

 beautiful variety, the Killdeer Plover, Charadrius Vociferus, 

 so named from its peculiar cry, which it is both cruel and use- 

 less to kill, as it is too insignificant to be regarded as game ; 

 the Rocky Mountain Plover, Charadrms Montanus, which 

 is too rare, and Wilson's Plover, Charadrius Wilsonius, too 

 humble to be regarded as game. 



The Phalaropes and Lobefoots come under the same 

 predicament with the varieties of Plover last named, and we 

 shall accordingly pass on to the Curlews, three varieties of 

 which are commonly killed along our shores, not considering 

 the AvosET, Rccurvirostra Americana, known by gunners as 

 the " Blue Stocking," or the Black-necked Stilt, Hijnantopus 

 Nigricollis, or " Lawyer," as he is sometimes called, worthy of 

 any notice beyond the mention of their names, although they 

 are often shot with other varieties of shore-birds. 



CURLEWS. 



No. 1. The Long-billed Curlew, or Sickle-bill — Nume- 

 nius Longirostris. 



" Specific Character. — Bill toward the end decui-ved ; upper 

 part of the throat, and a band fi'om the bill to the eye, light- 

 bufF; general plumage pale reddish-brown ; head and neck 

 streaked with dusky ; upper parts marked with blackish-brown ; 

 tail barred with the same ; abdomen plain reddish-brown ; feet 

 bluish. Length twenty-six inches, wing eleven. The bill of 

 the specimen from which this description is taken, measures 

 eight inches. The bills of individuals of this species vary, but 

 the length is at all times sufficient to determine the species. 



