NUMENIUS AUSTPvALIS. 



(Australian Curlew.) 



Ceowjst of the head and back of the neck, blackish brown, each feather margined with buff; back, blackish brown, each feather blotched with 

 reddish buff on the margin ; wing coverts, blackish brown, margined with greyish white ; tertiaries, brown, irregularly blotched on the 

 margins with lighter brown; rump and under tail coverts, dark brown, barred across the margins with greyish buff; tail, light brown, barred 

 with dark brown ; greater coverts, blackish brown, slightly tipped with white ; the first five primaries, dark brown, with white stems — the 

 remainder and the secondaries, crossed by irregular interrupted bars of white ; sides of the face, throat, and all the under surface, pale buff, 

 with a fine streak of blackish brown down the centre of each feather ; bill, flesh color, tinged with olive for half its length from the base — the 

 other portion to the tip, blackish brown ; legs, lead color ; irides, dark brown. 



Length, 28 inches ; wing, 12| ; tail, 4f ; bill, 7 ; tarsus, 3i. 



This large and conspicuous species so much resembles the common European Curlew that it migh t be easily supposed to be 

 identical ; but the Australian representative possesses a longer bill, and differs in other particulars. It is found in every portion of Australia 

 and Tasmania, especially on the coast, where it frequents rivers and mud flats to feed upon the various Crustacea, molluscs, and other living 

 creatures left by the retiring tide. The shallow waters are also frequented by it, and should it step out of its depth it can swim sufficiently 

 well to secure its own safety. Flocks of this bird may be often seen on the banks and mud flats of Moreton Bay, in company with the 

 Mycteria and a great variety of other waders ; at such times the sight through a good telescope is one of no ordinary interest. 



