180 CURLEW. 



10.— ESKIMAUX CURLEW. 



Numenius borealis, Ind. Orn. ii. 712. 



Numenius cinereus, Sea-side lesser Curlew, Bartr. Trav. 292. 



Scolopax borealis, Gm. Lin. i. 654. Phil. Trans, lxii. 431. Faun. Amer. Sept. p. 14. 



Courlis, Tern. Man. Ed. ii. Anal. p. ciii. 



Eskimaux Curlew, Gen. Syn. v. 125. Phil. Trans, lxii. 411. 



THIS is a little more than half the size of the Whimbrel ; the 

 length thirteen inches ; breadth twenty-one. Bill two inches long, 

 bent, remarkably slender, and blackish ; the under mandible rufous 

 at the base ; head pale, with longitudinal lines of brown ; forehead 

 deep brown, with pale spots; neck, breast, belly, and vent yellowish 

 white, the two first dashed with brown slender lines ; the feathered 

 part of the thighs yellowish white, spotted with brown ; sides under 

 the wings rufous, transversely fasciated with brown ; the back deep 

 brown, the feathers margined with greyish white; wings brown; the 

 shafts of the prime quills white ; the secondaries and lesser coverts 

 margined with grey ; lower coverts ferruginous, banded with brown ; 

 rump brown, the feathers edged and spotted with whitish ; tail short, 

 brown, crossed with whitish bands; legs bluish black. 



Inhabits the fens of Hudson's Bay; first seen near Albany, the 

 beginning of May, going further north, and returning to Albany in 

 August; it stays there till September, when it departs for the south : 

 lays four eggs, and appears in flocks, young and old together, until 

 their departure ; the same also in Nova Scotia, in October and 

 November: feeds on the black-berried heath, and has a kind of 

 whistling note, which may be heard at some distance. Is also met 

 with at Newfoundland, and called there a Curlew; the natives of 

 Hudson's Bay call it Wee-kee-ma-nase-su ; it is esteemed for the 

 delicacy of its flesh. Extends also to South America; one of them, 

 in the British Museum, having been brought from Rio Janeiro. 



