LIMICOL^. 



167 



and plumage. Kemiges thirty. First quill longest. Primaries barred whitish 

 or rufous on inner web (N. horealis excepted). 



Migratory and found all over the world. Said to perch on trees occasionally 

 in N. Europe. 



Colour of crown same as hack, and without central longitudinal pale hand. 

 158. Numenius arquatus. The Curlew. 



The mediaeval name. It is generally said to be derived from the bird's bill being bent like 

 a bow, arms; but it more likely refers to arquatus mor6Ms=the jaundice ("when the skin 

 turns to the yellow colour of the rainbow"), in allusion to the legend about Charadrius, 

 Oalbyila, Icterus, etc. 



Gear, Goungh, India; Choppa, Sada Kastachura, Bengal. 



$ 21"; 27 oz. ? 26"; 30 oz. Legs grey. Bill 4" to 7^", brown. Tongue 

 rather short. Above brown, edged rufous. Lower back and rump white, with 

 blackish shaft streaks ending in dusky spots. Abdomen white, with dark shaft 

 lines on breast and flanks. In summer the male becomes darker, with broader 

 shaft lines. In winter the female resembles male in being nearly white below. 

 Nearly cosmopolitan, breeding in temperate Europe and Asia, wintering in 

 Africa and S. Asia. Winter visitor to India, Ceylon, and Burma. Accidental 

 in N. America. Eggs (2-6 x 1-8) olive, blotched grey. Its note is the wild 

 scream of "cur-lew." (J. 877. B. 1454.) See illustration, p. 166. 



Also N. tenuirostris. 16". Similar to N. arquatus. From C. Europe. 



N. cyanopus. $ 21". ? 24". Breeding in E. Siberia and wintering as far south as Australia. 



N, longirostris. S ISJ". 9 21"- From America. 



Grown with central longitudinal pale hand. 



159. Numenius phseopus. The Whimbrbl, Whaup, or Seven Whibtlbe. 



The mediaeval name ; from ^i6s= dusky, and iroCs=a foot. 



Chota-Goungh, India. 



^ 16". ? 18". Legs bluish. Bill 3" to 3J", dusky. Crown brown, with 

 median white band. Pale broad eye-streak. Above brown with whitish spots. 

 Flanks and axillaries barred. Lower back and rump unstreaked white. Europe 



159. Numenius pTueopxn. 10.10.75. 



