ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 473 
ESQUIMAUX CURLEW.—SCOLOPAX BOREALIS. — Fie. 219 
Arct. Zool. p. 461, No. 364. — Lath. iii. — Turt. Syst. p. 392. — Peale’s Museum, 
No. 4003. 
NUMENIUS BOREALIS, — Latnam.* 
Numenius borealis, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 112. — Bonap. Synop. No. 244.— North. 
Zool. ii. p. 378, pl. 55. 
In prosecuting our researches among the feathered tribes of this 
extensive country, we are at length led to the shores of the ocean, 
where a numerous and varied multitude, subsisting on the gleanings 
of that vast watery magazine of nature, invite our attention ; and, from 
their singularities and numbers, promise both amusement and instruc- 
tion. These we shall, as usual, introduce in the order we chance to 
meet with them in their native haunts. Individuals of various tribes 
thus promiscuously grouped together, the peculiarities of each will ap- 
pear more conspicuous and striking, and the detail of their histories 
less formal, as wel] as more interesting. . 
The Esquimaux Curlew, or, as it is called by our gunners on the 
sea-coast, the Short-billed Curlew, is peculiar to the new continent. 
Mr. Pennant, indeed, conceives it to be a mere variety of the English 
Whimbrel, (S. pheopus ;) but, among the great numbers of these birds 
which I have myself shot and examined, I have never yet met with one 
corresponding to the descriptions given of the Whimbrel, the colors 
and markings being different, the bill much more bent, and nearly an 
inch and a half longer; and the manners, in certain particulars, very 
different: these reasons have determined its claim to that of an inde 
pendent species. 
The Short-billed Curlew arrives in large flocks on the sea-coast ot 
New Jersey early in May, from the south, frequents the salt marshes, 
muddy shores and inlets, feeding on small worms and minute shell- 
fish. They are most commonly seen on mud flats at low water, in 
company with various other Waders ; and at high water roam along 
the marshes. They fly high, and with great rapidity. A few are seen 
in June, and as late as the beginning of July, when they generally 
move off towards the north. Their appearance, on these occasions, is 
very interesting: they collect together from the marshes, as if by pre- 
meditated design, rise to a great height in the air, usually about an 
hour before sunset, and, forming in one vast line, keep up a constant 
whistling on their way to the north, as if conversing with one another 
* This species has been by some supposed to be identical with the WV. phaopus 
of Europe, but 1 believe later investigations have proved that it is entirely distinct, 
the Whimbrel having not yet been found to inhabit any part of America. The 
Northern Zoology mentions it as inhabiting the barren lands within the arctic circle 
in summer, where it feeds on insects and the berries of Limpetrum nigrum. The 
Copper Indians believe that this bird, and some others, betray the approach of an 
enemy. ‘heir nests and habits, while breeding, resemble those of the Common 
Curlew — Ep. 
40 * 
