122 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



1874, under the name of Numenius femoralis Peale. Nothing is known of its habits in America, 

 but the i>resieuce of the pair at the date mentioned in the vicinity of Saint Michaels would indi- 

 cate that it nests, at least occasionally, in Alaska. 



Their close resemblance in size and habits to N. hudsonlcus renders it difficult to say just how 

 rare they are, for they might be mistaken very frequently for the ordinary species and passed by, 

 so it behooves naturalists visiting this region in the future to keep a sharj) lookout for them. It 

 is numerous on the Paumotu group, in the South Pacific. 



Dr. Streets found them very abundant on Palmyra Island, but only a few were seen ou the 

 other islands of the Fanning group, which are located in the Pacific, just north of the equator. 



Although this species has been known to naturalists for a considerable number of years, yet, 

 beyond the bare mention of its presence in a few localities, I have been unable to learn anything 

 concerning its habits. 



My specimen, a male, measures 19 inches iu leugtli by 34.5 iu extent of wiug, when fresh, and 

 the basal half of the lower mandible was dark, dull flesh-color and horn-black on the rest ; feet 

 and tarsus dull livid blue; iris hazel. Its crop was full of the lasf year's berries of Empetntm 

 nignim, upon which it was feeding when shot. Length of wing, 10.18 inches; tarsus, 2.30; 

 culmen, 3.C7 inches. 



Coloration. — The crown is dark brown, divided longitudinally through the median line by a 

 narrow line of feathers with narrow brown shaft-lines and broad borders of pale buti"; com- 

 mencing at base of upper mandible, on each side, is a pale bufl-shaded, white superciliary line, 

 reaching to the nape, the feathers being finely marked. with numerous small dark centers ; a 

 dark -brown loral line reaches to front of orbit, and continues from posterior side of orbit to nape 

 as an indistinct line; below this the feathers of the sides of the head and neck are marked each 

 ■with a drab shaft-streak and bordered along the sides with pale buff; these shaft-streaks are 

 very minute on the side close to the base of the lower mandible, and increase rapidly and uui- 

 formly iu size until at the shoulder they occupy most of the feather; these markings extend 

 around in front on the lower neck, thus inclosing a pale bufiy white chin and throat-patch, from 

 ■which, reaching to the upper part of the breast, the feathers are marked as on the sides of 

 the neck ; the back of the neck has the same pattern, but the centers are darker brown and their 

 borders of a deeper buff tint than ou the sides ; back, scapulars, and tertial feathers each with 

 bright very dark brown centers, bordered with varying shades of buff'; iu some places the buff 

 edging is a rich, warm tint, fading in other places to a pale whitish shade ; between the bases of 

 scapulars the buff edging takes the form of an irregular but well marked border; the rest of 

 feathers ou the back have this border broken up into irregularly rounded spots, from two to four 

 iu number, along each side of the feather. The rump is of the same dark brown as the back, 

 relieved only by the narrow dark bufl'y borders, which are less marked thau on the back ; the 

 upper tail-coverts are dark, dull buff', marked with irregular dark bars and shaft-spots ; tail dark 

 buff" with a faint brownish shade and crossed by five blackish brown bars, the inner bar i)oorly 

 defined. Below, along the sides of the breast, the feathers are irregularly bordered with dark, 

 and the rest of the lower jiarts, lower half of breast, abdomen, flanks, thighs, aud under tail coverts 

 are uniform light buff'; under wing-coverts aud axillaries richly barred and spotted with deep buff 

 on a dark brown ground ; the primaries dark brown with white shafts, and a coarse, deep, but 

 faint serration of pale buff" along inner edge of inner web ; secondaries and inner primaries each 

 with a series of dull buff' spots along outer edge of webs aud tipped ■with gray. The distribution 

 of the color on the back gives a dark surface coarsely spotted with buff, and is one of the most 

 characteristic features of the bird, when compared with the duller and more uniform shades of the 

 other American species of Curlew. 



Chaeadrius squatarola (Linn.). Black-bellied Plover (Esk. Tiishtk.) 



This species is found at Sitka during the migrations aud is rather common on the entire Yukon. 

 It arrives at Nulato about June 1, according to Dall; but I found it rather common at the Y'ukou 

 mouth on May 12, aud a little later; so it occasionally, at least, reaches Nulato earlier than June 



