328 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



At one time very abundant on Atlantic coast during migra- 

 tions; becoming less common every year (Cory, 1896). Be- 

 coming more scarce every year, and ornithologists believe its 

 extinction is only a question of time (Samuels, Massachusetts, 

 1897) . Now a very rare or even accidental migrant (Howe and 

 Allen, Massachusetts, 1901). A bird of the past, threatened 

 with extinction; flocks along the Atlantic coast utterly de- 

 stroyed; twenty years ago abundant in late fall on coast of 

 Virginia and North Carolina, now practically unknown; in 

 Florida, where great numbers wintered, now rare (Sanford, 

 Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903). Very rare, accidental transient 

 visitor (C. W. Townsend, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1905). 

 A casual visitor (Knight, Maine, 1908). Now an accidental 

 migrant (G. M. Allen, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 

 Island and Connecticut, 1909). A rare or accidental visitor 

 (Eaton, eastern New York, 1910). 



Not one of my Massachusetts correspondents reports an 

 increase of this species, while thirty-eight report a decrease. 

 Within my own recollection, less than forty years ago, the 

 Long-billed Curlew was abundant in the Carolinas and Florida 

 where now it has almost disappeared, and I see no reason to 

 doubt that a somewhat similar condition once existed on our 

 own shores. Massachusetts was a little out of the line of its 

 great migration from its breeding grounds in the northwest 

 to the Atlantic coast, and while probably it was never so 

 plentiful here as in the south, its decrease there merely followed 

 and paralleled its disappearance here. 



This Curlew is the largest of all our shore birds, and had 

 the quality of its flesh been equal to its size it would have been 

 extinct ere now. On the western plains, where it feeds largely 

 on insects and berries, its flesh is quite palatable. When it 

 reaches the Atlantic coast, and begins to feed on marine food, 

 it soon becomes fishy and more or less unpalatable. Therefore 

 it was not sought by epicures, and did not bring so high a 

 price pound for pound as did the Eskimo Curlew. Neverthe- 

 less, its great size rendered it a good target. It readily was 

 attracted by decoys. It sailed steadily in toward them, pre- 

 senting an imposing mark, easy to hit, and it was so solicitous 



