BAY SNIPE. 



43 



No. 3. Esquimaux Curlew — " Doe Bird'' — "Futes." — Nume- 

 nius Borealis. 



Numenius borealis, Bonap. Syii. Numeuius boroalis, Esquimaux Curlew, Sw. 

 & Rich. Esquimaux Curlew, Numenius borealis, Nutt. Man. Esquimaux 

 Curlew, Numenius borealis, Aud. Oni. Biog. 



" Specific Character. — Bill along the gap about two inches and 

 a quarter ; tarsi one inch and five-eighths ; upper parts dusky- 

 brown with pale yellowish-white, marked all over with pale 

 reddish-brown. Adult with a line of white from the bill to the 

 eye ; eyelids white ; upper part of the head dusky, spotted in 

 fi-ont with grayish-white, a medial band of the same color; 

 throat white ; neck and breast yellowish-gray, with longitudi- 

 nal markings of dusky on the former, pointed spots of the same 

 color on the latter ; abdomen dull yellowish-white ; flanks 

 barred with brown; lower tail coverts the same as the abdo- 

 men; tail and upper tail coverts barred with pale reddish-brown 

 and dusky, tipped with yellowish-white ; upper parts brownish, 

 the feathers tipped with pale reddish-brown, the scapulars mar- 

 gined and tipped with lighter ; primaries dark-brown, margined 

 internally with lighter — the first shaft white, with the tip dusky 

 — the rest brown. Length fourteen inches and a half, wing 

 eight. 



" In New-Jersey, New- York, Massachusetts, and Rhode 

 Island, this species is seen every season. It frequents the open 

 grounds in the vicinity of the sea-coast, feeding on grasshoppers, 

 insects, seeds, worms and hemes. It arrives among us in the 

 latter part of August, and remains until the first of November, 

 when it assembles in flocks, and moves off to its winter quarters 

 which are said to be south of the United States. I have shot a 

 few stragglers in this vicinity as late as the twentieth of Novem- 

 ber. It occasionally associates with the Golden Plover. In the 

 autumn it is generally in fine condition, and unlike the former 

 two, its flesh is well flavored. In the vicinity of New- York it is 

 known by the name of ' Futes' — in the Eastern States it is called 



' Doe Bird.' It breeds on the barren grounds at the North." 



Giraud's Birds of Long Island. 



