ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 47 



in height, and so abundant, that patches of several acres covered the rocks 

 here and there. When the birds were in search of these feeding-grounds, 

 they flew in close masses, sometimes high, at other times low, but always 

 with remarkable speed, and performing beautiful evolutions in the air. The 

 appearance of man did not seem to intimidate them, for they would alight 

 so near us, or pass over our heads at so short a distance, that we easily shot 

 them. While on wing, they emitted an oft repeated soft whistling note, but 

 the moment they alighted they became silent. They ran swiftly along, all 

 in the same direction, picking up the berries in their way, and when pursued, 

 would immediately squat in the manner of a Snipe or Partridge, sometimes 

 even laying their neck and head quite flat on the ground, until you came 

 within a short distance, when, at the single whistle of any one of the flock, 

 they would all immediately scream and fly off, rambling about for awhile, 

 and not unfrequently re-alighting on the same spot. Now and then, how- 

 ever, their excursion would last a long time, they would rise high in the air, 

 make towards the sea, and, as if aware of the unfavourable state of the 

 weather for pursuing their southward course, would return. 



They continued to arrive at Bras d'Or for several days, in flocks which 

 seemed to me to increase in number. I saw no Hawks in their rear, and I 

 was the more astonished at this, that at that period Pigeon Hawks and other 

 species were pretty abundant. 



They rose from the ground by a single quick spring, in the manner of a 

 Snipe, when they would cut backward, forward, and all around, in a very 

 curious manner, and would now and then pause in the air, like a Hawk, re- 

 maining stationary for a few moments with their head meeting the wind, 

 when immediately afterwards they would all suddenly alight. In calm and 

 fair weather, they were more shy than at other times. While on their pass- 

 age across the Gulf, they flew high in close bodies, and with their usual speed, 

 by no means in regular lines, nor in any order, but much in the manner of 

 the Migratory Pigeon, now and then presenting a broad front, and again 

 coming together so as to form a close body. 



Those which we procured were extremely fat and juicy, especially the 

 young birds, of which we ate a good many. Mr. Jones, an old settler of 

 Bras d'Or, and his son, shoot a great number every season, which they salt 

 for winter food. They informed us that these birds pass over the same tract 

 about the middle of May, on their way northward, and that they never found 

 them breeding in their neighbourhood. Little difference could be observed 

 at that season between the males and females, or between the old and young 

 birds. 



Numenius eorealis, Bonap. Syn., p. 314. 



Numenius eorealis, Esquimaux Curlew, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 

 378. 



