438 The Water-fowl Family 



structing a rough nest of grass, and laying three 

 or four eggs ; the male always watchful, darting at 

 the intruder with loud screaming, while the female 

 lies close. In 1896, while hunting near Ashcroft, 

 British Columbia, I saw several pairs of these birds 

 on the high hills, and was told they regularly bred. 

 The young fly in early August, and when fed on 

 the insects and berries of the interior are excellent 

 eating, while along the shore the flesh has rather 

 a fishy flavor. The long bill is well adapted for 

 picking up the little shellfish and minute crabs 

 on the flats. This species is the largest of our 

 waders, and its former liberal distribution gave it 

 a variety of names, such as Spanish curlew, buz- 

 zard curlew, hen-curlew, smoker, saberbill, and 

 mowyer. 



EUROPEAN CURLEW 

 (Numenius arquatus) 



Male and female in breeding plumage — Upper parts, brown, the 

 feathers with longitudinal black centres and notched with ashy 

 or rufous ; wing-coverts, dark brown, edged and marked with 

 whitish ; primary-coverts and primaries, blackish, glossed with 

 bottle-green ; the primaries and secondaries, notched or barred 

 with brown, buff, or white ; lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts, white, the back and rump, spotted, the tail-coverts, 

 barred with black ; tail, white, often tinged with buff and crossed 

 by nine or ten bars of dark brown ; head, dark brown, the 

 feathers, edged with sandy buff; a white line bordered with 

 black over eye ; sides of face, neck, and chest, ashy or sandy 

 buff, streaked with dark brown ; chin, upper throat, and thighs, 

 white ; breast, abdomen, sides, and under tail-coverts, white, 

 streaked with dark brown; bill, fleshy brown, darker at tip; 

 feet, dusky ; iris, brown. 



