170 



SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



m 



S64. NumeniuB lon^irostris Wil«. Luno - billed Curlew ; 

 SicKLE-niLL. Ad. — Head aiid nuck Htrtakcd, und buck barred with buft'y 

 and bluck; wing-covcrts, inner webb of priaiiiri<!s, ^ fcondunob, and tail vary- 

 iu^ from burt'y to pale rufous, barred or mottled with blackihh; under parts 

 ochraccous-butr, breast more or less streaked and sides sometimes ban-ed 

 witli black; axillars rufous, genially unbarred. L., 2-1-00; W., 10-50; Tar., 

 8-10 ; B., 0-00. 



Jianfje. — United States, breeding in the interior as far north as Manitoba 

 and on the Atlantic coast to North Carolina; casual northward to New Eng- 

 land ; winters from Florida and Texas southward to tlic West Indies. 



Washington, rare and irregular T. V. Long Island, casual from July to 

 Sept. Sing Sing, A. V. 



K(/(/ii, three to four, olive cla^ -color or brownish asliy, spotted or blotched 

 with chocolate, 2-58 x 1*85. 



" These birds, as a rule, inhabit the muddy shores and moist grassy 

 flats and plains, but often frequent and breed upon the uplands re- 

 mote from water. Their food consists of worms, crickets, beetles, 

 grasshoppers, 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 larva; of the beetles and other 

 forms of life that in the spring come to or near the surface prepara- 

 tory to transformation. 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 hoard during the breeding sea.son ; before alighting, sud- 

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

 gracefully alight " (Goss). 



266« Numenius hudsonicus Luth. lIri>soM.iN Ciklew; Jack 

 Cnii.Ew. y((/.— I 'ppir parts grayish brown, the sides of the feathers with 

 whitish spots; rump and tail barred with butty and blackish ; inner web of 

 outer primaries and both webs of inner ones barred with, butty or whitish and 

 black ; under parts butty or whitish, the neck and breast streaked and tiie 

 sides and under wing-coverts barred with black. L., 1700 ; W., 9-50 ; Tar., 

 2-20; B., 3-75. 



AV»«_(7e.— Breeds in the arctic regions and winters from the Gulf States to 

 Patagonia. 



Long Island, T. V., rare from May 20 to 30; common from July to Oct. 1. 



E(/ij)>, three to four, [)ale olive, spotted with dull brown, 2-27 x 1-57 

 (Kidgw.). 



This is a much comm .ler bird on our coasts than the preceding, 

 which it resembles in habits but not in notes. 



866. Numenius borealis (ForstX Eskimo Curlew; Fute; 

 Douoii-BiRD. yl(/.— Upper parts black, margined and tipped with buffy or 



