BIRDS OP FERGUS COUNTY, MONTANA 21 



about the 20th of April, though it is not usually convenient for me to note 

 their first appearance on the adjoining prairie, and others sometimes report 

 them before I see them. Their appearance is the signal for local gunners 

 to go a-field, and the birds suffer somewhat from their hands until the be- 

 ginning of the nesting season. However, the curlews soon become wary, 

 and it is difficult to get near enough to them to secure large bags. As 

 they feed abundantly on the grasshoppers and other noxious insects that 

 lurk in the prairie herbage, the curlews ought to be protected during the 

 spring season, at least. 



During the mating or pre-nuptial season, the curlews are noisy and 

 restless, moving from one part of a favorite pasture to another and utter- 

 ing their loud calls just before alighting, or feeding restlessly alone within 

 call of the mate or fellows. They manifest a tendency to associate in 

 pairs, though the paired birds are not inseparable and do not feed side 

 by side. In the mating season, when one bird changes its station, the 

 other of the pair is likely to follow in a few moments. The loud, prolonged 

 whistle of the curlews will call attention to them, whether on the ground 

 c<r a-wing, warning the observer that his presence is known and that his 

 movements will be watched with the closest interest. 



A pair of curlews frequently present a pretty sight when sailing 

 in company upward abreast of the wind, moving in perfect accord on 

 wide-spread, motionless pinions curved gently downward, within several 

 feet of each other, then fluttering downward side by side or one in advance 

 of the .other, again to sail upward together, uttering the characteristic 

 whistles. The male is extremely jealous in watching over his claimed do- 

 main, in evidence of which I once saw a curlew swoop down upon an 

 unoffending ferruginous rough-leg that chanced to wander over the favorite 

 portion of the curlew's home. Time and again the curlew swooped down 

 upon the big Archibueto as the latter flapped heavily along the edge of a 

 "coulee," and the place resounded with the shrill whistling of the angry 

 curlew. 



The male curlew is a most jealous guardian of the premises near the 

 nest. When the female is sitting on her eggs, the male will denote a 

 watchful interest in the movements of anyone who is within several hun- 

 dred yards of the nest. At such times he will come flying from some 

 quarter of the pasture, and with angry cackling will alight near the dis- 

 turber, impatiently feeding and watching the movements of the one threat- 

 ening the peace of his household. If the observer approaches nearer the 

 nest, the male will bgin to fly at him in a straight course, turning upward 

 abruptly with a loud whiff of wings when it seems that the disturber must 

 certainly be struck by the determined defender of his home. The nest 

 may still be more than a hundred yards byond the observer. In the ma- 

 jority of instances, it lies ahead in the line the male points in his flight. 

 As the disturber gets nearer, the male shows more distress 

 and flutters wildly overhead, flying at the disturber from every direction, 

 though not from long distances as before. All the while the female is sit- 



