﻿^^.8 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  bo 
  

  

  few 
  dry 
  grasses, 
  leaves 
  or 
  weed 
  stalks 
  which 
  form 
  a 
  lining 
  in 
  the 
  slight 
  hollow 
  

   which 
  contains 
  the 
  eggs. 
  These 
  are 
  four 
  in 
  number, 
  of 
  a 
  creamy 
  btiff 
  color, 
  

   spotted 
  and 
  blotched 
  with 
  chocolate 
  and 
  obscure 
  shell 
  markings, 
  most 
  

   thickly 
  at 
  the 
  larger 
  end. 
  Average 
  dimensions 
  are 
  1.3 
  x 
  i 
  inches, 
  or 
  slightly 
  

   less. 
  The 
  downy 
  young 
  are 
  grayish 
  above 
  with 
  a 
  narrow 
  black 
  stripe 
  from 
  

   the 
  bill 
  down 
  the 
  neck 
  and 
  back, 
  and 
  a 
  narrow 
  black 
  line 
  on 
  each 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   head 
  through 
  the 
  eye; 
  under 
  parts 
  whitish. 
  They 
  leave 
  the 
  nest 
  soon 
  after 
  

   hatching 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  first 
  teeter 
  like 
  their 
  parents. 
  

  

  Numenius 
  americanus 
  Bechstein 
  

  

  (Numenius 
  longirostris 
  on 
  plate) 
  

  

  Long-billed 
  Curlew 
  

  

  Plate 
  37 
  

  

  Numenius 
  americanus 
  Bechstein, 
  in 
  Latham 
  Allg. 
  Ueb. 
  Vogel. 
  1812. 
  

  

  4. 
  2, 
  432 
  

   Numenius 
  longirostris 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  232, 
  fig. 
  216 
  

  

  A. 
  O.'U. 
  Clieck 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  264 
  

  

  nume'nins, 
  Gr. 
  vov/xi^vios, 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  curlew, 
  from 
  vov/xTjvta, 
  the 
  new 
  moon, 
  

   alluding 
  to 
  the 
  crescent 
  or 
  sickle-shaped 
  bill; 
  americanus, 
  Lat., 
  

  

  American 
  

  

  Description. 
  Large; 
  bill 
  very 
  long 
  and 
  curved, 
  upper 
  mandible 
  longer 
  

   and 
  slightly 
  knobbed 
  at 
  the 
  tip; 
  toes 
  webbed 
  at 
  the 
  base; 
  upper 
  parts 
  

   varied 
  buffy 
  or 
  rufous 
  and 
  blackish, 
  chiefly 
  in 
  streaks 
  on 
  head 
  and 
  neck, 
  

   and 
  broken 
  bars 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  wings 
  ; 
  outer 
  webs 
  of 
  the 
  primaries 
  blackish 
  ; 
  

   under 
  parts 
  pale 
  ocherous 
  buff; 
  legs 
  dull 
  bluish 
  gray; 
  bill 
  yellowish 
  flesh 
  

   color 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  and 
  below, 
  blackish 
  toward 
  the 
  tip. 
  

  

  Length 
  20-26 
  inches; 
  extent 
  36-39; 
  wing 
  10-12; 
  tail 
  4; 
  tarsus 
  2.75-3.5; 
  

   bill 
  4-8.5 
  (young 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  only 
  2.3-3.5). 
  

  

  The 
  Long-billed 
  curlew. 
  Big 
  curlew, 
  or 
  Sickle-bill, 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  

  

  of 
  America 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Manitoba 
  and 
  Saskatchewan 
  and 
  winters 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  gulf 
  coast 
  and 
  the 
  West 
  Indies. 
  Sixty 
  years 
  ago 
  it 
  was 
  plentiful 
  on 
  Long 
  

  

  Island, 
  according 
  to 
  Colonel 
  Pike 
  [Butcher, 
  Auk, 
  10:272], 
  but 
  is 
  now 
  only 
  

  

  a 
  rare 
  or 
  accidental 
  visitor 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  The 
  following 
  are 
  oui' 
  records 
  

  

  ior 
  the 
  last 
  35 
  years: 
  

  

  Far 
  Rockaway, 
  L. 
  L 
  9 
  . 
  Aug. 
  20, 
  1873. 
  N. 
  T. 
  Lawrence, 
  Auk, 
  2: 
  273 
  

   •Oneida 
  Lake. 
  Oct. 
  5, 
  1880. 
  Ralph 
  & 
  Bagg 
  List, 
  115 
  

   Far 
  Rockaway, 
  L. 
  L 
  Aug. 
  26, 
  1885. 
  N. 
  T. 
  Lawrence, 
  Auk, 
  2: 
  273 
  

   Canandaigua, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  Sept. 
  1885 
  or 
  1886. 
  A. 
  P. 
  Wilbur 
  

  

  