262 SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 



from water. Their food consists of worms, crickets, beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, small snails, crabs and crawfish; the latter they reach for with 

 their long bills and pull them out of their holes; and I have seen them 

 probe for and unearth the larvae of the beetles and other forms of life 

 that in the spring come to or near the surface preparatory to trans- 

 formation. While feeding they move about with an easy carriage. 



"Their flight is not rapid but well sustained, with regular strokes 

 of the wings, and when going a distance usually high and in a trian- 

 gular form, uttering now and then their loud, prolonged whistling note, 

 so often heard during the breeding season; before alighting, suddenly 

 drop nearly to the ground, then gather, and with a rising sweep grace- 

 fully alight" (Goss). 



265. Numenius hudsonicus Lath. HUDSONIAN CURLEW. Ads. 

 Upperparts grayish brown, the sides of the feathers with buff or whitish 

 spots; rump and tail barred with buffy and blackish; inner web of outer 

 primaries and both webs of inner ones barred with buffy or whitish and black'. 

 underparts buffy or whitish, neck and breast streaked and sides and under 

 wing-coverts barred with black. L., 17'00; W., 9'50; Tar., 2;20; B., 3'75. 



Remarks. Young birds often have the bill as short as in N. borealis 

 from which, however, they may always be distinguished by their barred 

 primaries. 



Range. N. and S. A. Breeds on the coast of Alaska from mouth of 

 Yukon to Kotzebue Sound, and on the coast of n. Mackenzie; winters from 

 L. Calif, to s. Honduras, from Ecuador to s. Chile, and from B. Guiana to 

 mouth of the Amazon; migrates mainly along the Pacific and Atlantic 

 coasts; rare in the interior; casual on the Pribilof Islands and in Greenland 

 and Bermuda; accidental in Spain. 



Long Island, T. V., rare Apl. 28-May 30; common from July-Oct. 1. 



Eggs, 3-4, pale olive, spotted with dull brown, 2'27 x 1'57 (Ridgw.). 

 Date, e. of Anderson River, Mack., July 4. 



From Virginia to South Carolina, this is an abundant bird during 

 its migrations, but it evidently travels over the sea, for it is compara- 

 tively uncommon in our North Atlantic States. During their migra- 

 tions they select certain isolated islets as roosting-places and return 

 to them night after night. 



1892. MACKAY, G. H., Auk, IX, 345-352 (in Mass.). 



266. Numenius borealis (Forst.). ESKIMO CURLEW. Ads. Upper- 

 parts black, margined and tipped with buffy or whitish; upper tail-coverts 

 barred with buffy and black; tail brownish gray, edged with buffy and 

 barred with black; primaries fuscous without bars; underparts buffy or whit- 

 ish, the breast streaked, the sides and under wing-coverts barred with black. 

 L., 13-50; W., 8'40; Tar., 1'75; B., 2'40. 



Range. N. and S. A. Breeds on the Barren Grounds of n. Mackenzie; 

 winters in Argentina and Patagonia; now nearly extinct. 



Long Island, very rare T. V., Aug.-Sept. 



Eggs, 3-4, pale olive-greenish, olive, or olive-brownish, distinctly 

 spotted, chiefly on the larger end, with deep or dark brown, 2*04 x 1'43 

 (Ridgw.). Date, e. of Anderson River, Mack., June 20. 



"Most of their habits closely resemble those of the Golden Plover. 

 In migration they fly in much the same manner, with extended and 

 broadside and triangular lines and clusters similar to those of Ducks 



