448 The Water-fowl Family 



young are hatched late in the month and run at 

 once, quickly hiding in the grass if threatened. 



The Eskimo curlew show the same concern for 

 their wounded noticed in other members of the 

 family, and the flock often exposes itself to turn 

 and circle over the fallen. Few birds are held in 

 higher esteem for the market along our eastern 

 coast, and the doe-bird, for this is one of its com- 

 mon names, is a delicacy on the bill of fare. It is 

 also known as " f utes." 



WHIMBREL 

 {Numenius phaopus) 



Adult male and female — Top of head, sooty brown, with a longitu- 

 dinal medial stripe of buff, a dark stripe on side of head from 

 bill to loral region, and a distinct superciliary stripe of buff 

 above; remainder of head, neck, and lower parts, light buff, 

 lightest on throat and anal regions ; cheeks, neck entire, jugu- 

 lum, and breast, streaked with brown ; entire rump, white ; 

 upper tail-coverts, white, barred with brown; tail, dark gray, 

 barred with dusky, and tipped with white; iris, brown; bill, 

 black, base, yellowish brown ; legs and feet, plumbeous. Other 

 plumages, closely similar. 



Measurements — Length, 17 inches; wing, 10 inches; culmen, 3.50 

 inches ; tarsus, 2.50 inches. 



Eggs — Four in number; olive-brown, blotched with dark brown; 

 measure 2.34 by 1.67 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds in Iceland, the Faroe, Orkney, and Shetland 

 islands, and probably in Greenland ; in Scandinavia and Russia, 

 east to the Petchora River and Ural Mountains, above the forest 

 limits, and north to 66°. Winters from the Azores and Canary 

 Islands, through central Africa to Cape Town, and east to India, 

 and occasionally the Malay Peninsula. Has occurred in Spitz- 

 bergen and several times in Greenland. 



