m 



321 



PILECOCIAL GHALL.ATOItES — LIMICOL.K. 



Ill 



parts of India, and Tenuuinck believes that the specimens from Japan are identical 

 with European birds. 



Mr. Dresser regards this bird as one of the most widely distributed of the Waders, 

 inasmuch as it is not only f(mndover the entire I'aliearctie IJegion, but also thriiuj,'li- 

 ont the Indo-Malayan division, and in Africa as far down as the Cape. In Norway 

 it breeds north of the Fell-ranye, and in some ref,'ions, especially within the Arctic 

 Cin Ic, it is very numerous. It occurs in the extrenu' northern jiortions of Scandi- 

 navia, but has not been found in Spitzbergen. in Central Uussia it is extremely 

 common. It only breeds in the diy stejjpes in Eastern Euro])e. 



Mr. Dresser states that its extra-limital range includes Siberia, India, China. Aus- 

 tralia, and Africa. It has been seen in Kamtschatka and in Eastern Siberia, in 

 Africa it has been taken on the Nile, at Mozambicpie, in Zanziitar. Madagascar, Mau- 

 ritius, etc. In South Africa it is rare, but s])ecimens have been obtained even as t':ir 

 south as Capetown. 



The preseiu-e of this sjiecies in Greenland, and its conscfpuMit claim to a place in 

 the North American fauna, rests on the authority of Iieinhardt, who states (•■ Ilns," 

 18G1, p. 10) that he has seen, during recent years, five or six specimens from various 

 parts of Greenland, and that he knows of six others that had previously been sent to 

 his father in the years IH.'U-KS.'io ; and he expresses the belief that it will yet ho 

 ascertained that tliis Curlew breeds in Greenland. He is strengthened in this by his 

 conviction that the Xinneniiis meltnioi'hijnrlnis of IJonaparte — attributed to Greenland 

 and Iceland (Compt. Kend. XLIII. 1021) — is no other than this species. 



The fiesli of this l)ird is said to be excellent eating. The eggs are stated by Yar- 

 rell to be four in number. The ground-color is a dark olive-brown, blotched with a 

 still darker brown. They are pyriform in shape, and are very much like those of tlic 

 Kumenlus (iniuittu, but smaller. They measure 2.o4 inches in length by 1.(57 inches 

 in breadth. 



Mr. Gerbe states tluit this species passes through France, in its autumnal migra- 

 tions, in the months of Septendjcr, October, and Novend)er, and returns north again 

 in the months of April and May. In its spring movements it appears either solitary 

 or in small parties of two or three. 



Captain Feilden, as (]uoted by Mr. Dresser, states that it breeds in considerable 

 abundance on the Faroe Islands, from the 26th of May to the 17th of June. The 

 nest is simply a de])ression in the soil, on the top of some slight elevation in any 

 comparatively dry spot in the nuirshes, and is usually lined with a few grass l)ents. 

 or leaves of wild branddes. 



According to ^Ir. Dresser the eggs vary from 2.25 to 2.57 i" ches in length, and 

 from 1.57 to 1.(51 inches in breadth. They are pear-shai)ed, and vary in color from 

 light olive-brown to dark greenish brown. ISIost of them are clouded and blotched 

 with dark umber-brown, the sjiots l)eing more numerous toward the larger end. 



NumeniuB tahitiensia. 



THE BRISTLT-THIOHED CURLEW. 



Scolopax lahilfv.sis, Omel. S. N. I. 1788, 656. 



Nwnusnuis tahiticnsis, Ridow. Xom. N. Am. \\. ]881, no. .562. 



NttmenUts taitemis, CrjiEs, Check List, 2(1 ed. 1882, iio. 647. 



Numcnim femoral is, Peale, Zool. V. S. Expl. Exp. 1848, 283. — Cass. Orn. T*. .S. Expl. Exji. 



1858, 316, pi. xxxviii. — Rn)Gw. Am. Nnt. July, 1874, 435 (Fort Kenai, Alaska). 

 Otahf.Ue Curlew, Lath. Synoj). III. 1781, 122. 

 OtnhUe Ourkw, f'oi'Es, 1. c. 



