SCOLOPA CID^ : CURLEWS. 



645 



•43. N. longiros'tris. (Lat. hngus, long ; rostrum, beak.) Long-billed Curlew. Sickle-bill. 

 Bin of extreme length and curvature, measuring from 4 to 6 or 8 inches. Of largest size : length 

 24.00 or more ; extent 38.00 ; wing 10.00-12.00 ; tail about 4.00 ; tarsus 2.75-3.50. Plumage 

 very similar to that of the godwit, Limosa foeda : prevailing tone rufous, of varying intensity 

 in different specimens, usually deepest on the lining of the wings, which are little varied with 

 other color. Primaries varied with rufous. Top of head variegated with blackish and rufous 

 or whitish, without distinct pale median and lateral lines. Upper parts brownish-black, 

 speckled with tawny or cinnamon-brown, each feather having several indentations or broken 

 bars of this color; rufous prevailing on wing-eoverts. TaE-feathers and secondaries einnamon- 

 brown, with pretty regular dark bars throughout. Under parts rufous or cinnamon of varying 

 intensity, usually deepening to chestnut under the wings, fading to whitish on throat; the 

 jugulum and fore-breast with dusky streaks which tend on the sides of breast and. body to arrow- 

 heads or more or less complete bars ; lining of wings, axiUars, and crissum, mostly unmarked, 

 though some spots may appear. No white on rump, tail, or wings. Bill black, much of under 

 mandible pale-flesh-color or yellowish ; legs dark. Little variation io plumage with sex, age, 

 or season. Chicks hatch in whitish down, thickly blotched above with brownish-black; the 

 biU straight, an inch long. Like other exceptional developments of parts of birds, this member 

 grows to indetermi- 

 nate length. Up to ^==:zz:^^ 

 the time it is not over 

 3 or 4 inches long, 

 the species may be 

 distinguished from JT. 

 hudsonicus by the 

 strong rufescence of 

 the under part.s, which 

 are nearly clear of 

 dark markings. En- 

 tire temperate N. 

 Am. ; breeds nearly 

 throughout its range; 

 migratory northward, 

 resident in the south, 

 but also S. in winter 

 to C. Am. ; uncom- 

 mon in New England. 

 Nests aboundingly on 

 the S. Atlantic coast, and on the prairies of the Northwest. 



644. 



643. 



Fig. 452. — Hiidsonian Curlew, mucli reduced. 



fFrom Lewip.) 



Eggs 3-4, not very pear-shaped, 

 more like hen's eggs; 2.45 to 3.80 long by 1.80-1.90 broad; clay-colored, tending either to 

 darker olivaceous shades or to buff; spotting generally pretty uniform and of small pattern, 

 in some cases blotched or massed at the greater end, of sepia, chocolate, or umber-brown, the 

 paler sheU-markings usually numerous and evident. 



N. phse'opus. (Gr.<^aioE, ^/jaios, dusky, swarthy; ttoCs, pows, foot.) European Whimbrel. 

 In stature and general character resembling the Hudsonian curlew ; at once distinguished from 

 that species by the white rump, upper-tail coverts and hning of wings, spotted or barred with 

 dusky. An extensively distributed Old World species, only N. American as occurring in 

 Greenland. 



N. hudson'icus. (Of Hudson's Bay. Fig. 452.) Hudsonian Curlew. Jack Curlew. Of 

 medium size; bill moderate in length, stout, curved. BiU 3 or 4 inches long. Length 16.00- 

 18.00 ; extent 32.00 ; wing 9.00-10.00 ; tail 3.50 ; tarsus 2.25-2.50. General tone of coloration 



