74 WATER BIRDS 



Breeding Range: North of latitude 36° to latitude 50°. In California 



breeds in northwestern portion of the State, in the Pitt River valley. 

 Breeding Season : May and June. 



Nest : A shallow depression in the ground ; lined with dry grasses ; 

 placed near water. 

 I.- 3 or 4 ; buffy, spotted with purple and umber. Size 2.52 X 1.85. 



The Sickle-billed Curlew is a conspicuous bird wher- 

 ever it occurs on the beaches. In California it is common 

 on the coast and valleys west of the Sierra Nevada dur- 

 ing the winter months, appearing early in October and 

 remaining until the last of April or the middle of May. 

 These Curlews fly in wedge-shaped flocks of from fifty 

 to a hundred, the movement of migration being con- 

 tinuous when started, and mostly by daylight ; they 

 rest and feed late in the afternoon. A flock of them 

 alighting is suggestive of a multitude of gigantic butter- 

 flies, as they touch the earth with feet down and wings 

 raised over their backs. 



Their long bills are used to probe in the earth for 

 their food, which consists of worms, small snails, crabs, 

 crayfish, the larvae of beetles, and adult insects of all 

 kinds. Their note is a prolonged whistle as heard from 

 high in the air, or a clear rich call as you flush them 

 from the ground. If disturbed in their breeding ground, 

 they unite, as do the jays, to drive the intruder away 

 with harsh cries and a succession of shrill notes that one 

 observer calls laughter. Failing in this, they circle about 

 as near as they dare, and occasionally one, more daring 

 than the rest, comes too near for comfort. The mother, 

 finding defence useless, tries the old feint of a broken 

 wing, while the others watch her with anxious cries. 



