CHAPTER XVI. 



ESQUIMAUX CURLEW, OR SHORT-BILLED CURLEW. SCOLOPAX 



BOREALIS. 



"Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore, 

 His dun-gray plumage floating to the gale, 

 The curlew blends his melancholy wail 

 With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour." 



NOMENCLATURE AND DESCRIPTION. 



HIS large and handsome bird is known to 

 our shooters as the jack curlew, or short- 

 billed curlew, in contradistinction to the 

 other variety, the Numenius longerostris, 

 or long-billed curlew. 



"The Esquimaux curlew is eighteen 

 inches long and thirty-two inches in ex- 

 tent; the bill, which is four inches and a 



half long, is black towards the point, and a pale, purplish flesh-. 



color near the base ; upper part of the head dark brown, divided 



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