448 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



tainly, and the third very probably, referable to the Hudsonian Cur- 

 lew. The specimen which was the basis of the second record was ex- 

 amined by Belding (1892c, p. 257) and pronounced by him to be the 

 Hudsonian, while the third record is based upon sight identification by 

 an eastern hunter. 



From most of the other shore birds occurring in California the 

 Hudsonian Curlew may be distinguished by its large size, down- 

 curved bill (fig. 74), grayish brown coloration and by the absence 

 of any striking black or white patches. From the Long-billed Cur- 

 lew it may be told by its slightly smaller size, shorter, less curved 

 bill, grayish rather than pinkish appearing coloration, and barred 

 axillars and wing lining, and from the Marbled Godwit, a bird of the 

 same size as the Hudsonian Curlew, the latter may be known by its 

 down-curved rather than up-eurved bill, grayish rather than cinna- 

 mon coloration, and barred under wing lining and axillars. From 

 the Avocet and Stilt the Hudsonian Curlew may be known by its 

 down-eurved bill, and by the absence of striking patches of black 

 and white. The closely related Eskimo Curlew, a species once abun- 

 dant in migration on the Atlantic coast and Great Plains, and often 

 confused with the Hudsonian Curlew, is distinguished by its much 

 smaller size (folded wing only 8.00-8.50 inches), and shorter bill 

 (culmen only 2.25-2.50) and tarsus (1.70-1.80), and by the wholly 

 unbarred inner webs of its primary wing feathers. The latter char- 

 acter is unfailing. As previously stated, there has never been an 

 authenticated instance of the occurrence of the Eskimo Curlew in 

 California. 



The voice of the Hudsonian Curlew is, like that of its relatives, loud 

 and insistent. Mackay (1892&, p. 347) says of these birds on the 

 Atlantic coast: 



They make two notes, one a very clear, penetrating, staccato whistle, 

 repeated four or five times in quick succession, and which is very far-reaching. 

 It is given when flying, also when alarmed, and on taking flight. The other 

 consists of two, low, straight whistles or. notes, when a flock is alighting. 

 Flocks also make a rolling note lasting as long as it would take to count six or 

 seven. The sound is similar to that produced by a boy's lead bird whistle 

 filled with water. It is uttered when the birds approach, and are over a marsh 

 or feeding ground, at an altitude of sixty or seventy yards. I have never heard 

 of its being made by single birds. 



The Hudsonian Curlew is a bird of the marsh and seashore and 

 is not so often found in dry situations as its larger relative, the Long- 

 billed. Like the latter, the Hudsonian is notably wary and at the 

 slightest hint of danger is off on the wing with a loud cry to warn 

 the others of its kind in the vicinity. Along the seacoast the birds 

 resort to the adjacent salt marshes when driven from the open beach 

 or mud flats by a rising tide. 



