320 



I'lt.KfOCIAI- (ilSAl.I.ATOKKS MMICdLvK. 



ill tlirii' spring niiKnitidiiH in A|>ril. Tlicy ranir in ifiiiipaiiy witli tlif ('i)iiini(in Onlili m 

 IMiivrr, anil NtTiih'il to Irnl ill lilt' saiiii' iiiaiini'i' ami (III tlii> Hiinii' riiiiil. 'I'ln-y wiic 

 t'miiul tliinl,\ sratti'it'il aimni;,' tin' i'lovci'.s. ami wnr wilil ami lianl to hIidhI. Tlir\ 

 wt'i'j' j,'i'm'iall,\ very lean. 'I'luy a|i|it'ait'il tlu'ic alioiit tlir Itli nf April. 



Mr. .1. A. Alli'ii imt with u Minnie «tray n-prcHfiitativi' nl tliiH spccit's in WcMtiin 

 l\an..;is. nrar l''nri Mays, in May. Dr. Cimpfr nii'iitiiniH timlin^ tliis Curlew appar- 

 ently lui'i'iliiiK in tlie \ ieinity III Knit itenlun. W llele its ynlin^ ones Wele lakrll liy 

 liiiii w liilr llicy wiTe still ill llie iliiw II ; iiiit lie saw mnie nil tlie ( 'uliiiiiliia I'lains, 



.Mr. iMiai'iliiiaii iiiluriiis lae llial tliis speeics is I'laiiiil in tlie vicinity (if ('alain, 

 where it is iiiiire aliiimlaiit than the lliiilsiiiiiitis, altlioii;^'li imt ii.siially very niinienms. 

 It is (leeasiiiiially loiiml in lloeks alioiit the hist of Aii},'iiHt. At this time it is vei\ 

 t'oiiiniiiii ill the Itcriiimlas. It is iLsiuilly iiiiieh imire almmlaiit on the const of Maine 

 when there iiave lieeii easterly storms alioiit tlie L'dtli ol' .\iij,'iist. ami is then sem 

 ill remarkalile lli,u;lils; hut, exeept in sturmy weather, it is never iintieeil inlaml. In 

 sola • seasons this liird is rare in .Massaehiisetts; in others it is very almmlaiit. It 

 is ol' very irre;,'iil,ir oeiiirreiiee, .iml prolialily is more coiiiiiioii when easterly winds 

 prevail diiriii].;' the last third ot .\ii^Mist. 



A sin^'le speeinieii ol' this Curlew was taken hy Mr. II. W. Klliott on the I'ryhilnt 

 Islands in .hiiie. Is?-. 



Kieliardson states that he round this Curlew trequentiiiK the I'arreii Lands, within 



the .\rctie ('in le, in siimmi'r. where it I' Is on j^rnlis, tiesh-water insects, and the 



tniit of the Em jnl I'll III iii'iriiiii. I le descrilics its ej;<rs as lieinif ol' a pyrit'orm shape 

 and ot a SiHkiii-.i,'recn color clouded with a h'W lar^^c, irref,Milar sjiots ol' liri^ht iiiiihei- 

 brown. The Copper Indians lielieve that this liiid and some others lietray the 

 npproiieh of straii,i,'eis to the Kskinio. (In the 1,'itli of .lune. 18L% !!i(diarilsoii dis- 

 covered one of these Curlews .sitting;' on three cj^^^s. on the shore of I'oint Lake; 

 when he ap|)roaidied the nest, the female hird ran a sln' istance, crouching close 

 to the 1,'rouiid. and then stopped to oliserve the fate of her treasures, ilearm'. in liis 

 '•.loiirney to the Arctic ( tcean," rei'ers to this species as lieiiij; exai'tly like the lai;;er 

 one in color, shajie, and nearly everything: else except si/e. lie adds that- these two 

 species also ilil'fer from others in their manner id' life, as they never I'reijuent the 

 water's e(lu;e, hut always keep anioiii;' the rocks and dry ridj^es. feeding on berries ami 

 small insects. The Hesh of this bird is generally miieh more hi<,dily esteemed by tin' 

 dwtdlers on Hudson's Uay than that of the lar^'cr species, but it is by no means so 

 numerous in that ipiarter. llearne did not nu'ct with this species I'arther north than 

 Ej,'f,' I fiver. 



Audubon, in his account of this Curlew, confirms the statoiueuts made more than 

 aeeiitHiry ajj[o by llearne, relative to its habits and the way in which they differ froiu 

 those of the Ifuihuniiiis. He was told by Mr. ( ).'ikes, of l]iswieli, ^lass., that durin,!,' its 

 short stay in that .section, in the early autumn, this bird may be met with on the hi^li 

 sandy hills near the sea-shore, where it feeds on e;rasslio]ipers and on .several kinds ot 

 berries. (.)n this food it becomes very fat, is excellent eating,', and acipiires the name 

 of "l)ou<i;li-liir(l ■' in conseipu'iice. He never met with it after leaving iMassachusotts, 

 exeept on one occasion; this was on one of the islands on the coast of South Caro- 

 lina, at the dawn of a fine day, when a dense flock of this Curlew ])assed to the 

 southward, near enough to enable him to ascertain the species. On the 29th of July. 

 18.1.'{, these birds made their first ajipearance in Labrador, near the Harbor of liras 

 d'Or. They came from the ufirtli, ami arrived in immense numbers. Flock after flock 

 passed close to his ves.sel, and directed their course to the sterile mountaimms tracts 

 in the neighborhood. Their stay on the cjast seemed to be occasioned solely by the 



