252 CHABADRIIDJE. 



1454. Numenius arquata. The Curlew. 



Scolopax arquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 242 (1766). 



Numeuius arquata, Blytli, Cat. p. 268; Jvrdon, B.I. iii, p. 683; 

 Le Messnrier, S. F. iii, p. 381 ; Gates, B. B. ii, p. 412 ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. B. M. xxiv, p. 341. 



Numenius lineatus, Cuv. Rec/ne An. ed. 2 e , i, p. 521 (1829) ; Blytli, 

 Ibis, 1867, p. 167 ; Hume, S. F. i, p. 237 ; Adam, ibid. p. 396 ; 

 Hume, S. F. ii, p. 296; Butler $ Hume, S. F. iv, p. 16; Arm- 

 strong, ibid. p. 341 ; Hume, ibid. p. 464 ; Butler, S. F. \, pp. 233, 



Numeniua arcuatus, Irly, Ibis, 1861, p. 240. 

 Gear, Goungh. Barra Gulinda, H. ; Choppa, Sada Kastachura, Beng. 



Fig. 58. Head of N. arquata. 



Coloration. Crown and sides of head, and neck all round light 

 brown with dark shaft-stripes, darkest on the crown; a whitish 

 superciHum,not very distinct ; back and scapulars blackish brown, 

 with light brown edges to the feathers, some of the longer 

 scapulars obliquely barred near the edges ; wiug-coverts similar to 

 back but the edges are paler ; bastard wing, primary-coverts, and 

 primaries blackish brown, primary-coverts and inner primaries 

 with white tips, all primaries notched or mottled on inner web and 

 inner primaries notched on both webs with white ; secondaries 

 brown barred with white, tertiaries dark brown barred with ashy 

 brown, the pale bars not extending across in either case ; lower 

 back and rump white, the feathers in the middle with blackish 

 shaft-stripes, each ending in a broader pointed spot; upper tail- 

 coverts white with larger spots ; tail-feathers ashy brown with 

 dark brown cross-bars ; chin and throat white ; fore neck brownish 

 white with dark shaft-lines ; rest of lower parts white, with dark 

 shaft-lines on the breast and flanks. 



In breeding-plumage the whole bird is darker and the shaft- 

 lines broader, both above and below, and they extend to the 

 abdomen. 



Bill dark brown or blackish, basal half of lower mandible light 

 brown to fleshy white; irides brown; legs and feet bluish grey. 



Length about 23; tail 4'5 ; wing 11*5; tarsus 4'4; bill from 

 gape 5 to over 7, generally between 5 and 6. Females are larger 

 than males. 



