504 ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 
Possessing numerous general features common to the waders 
of their family, and a few of those which distinguish the [bis 
and Tantalt, the curlews have nevertheless some peculiar traits 
of their own, more easy to perceive than to define. Their phy- 
siognomy may be thus described: They have a rather small 
head, with a remarkably long, slender, and arched beak, longish 
neck, and body deeper than broad, and apparently gibbous. 
The wings are long, the tail moderate, the feet rather slender, 
though not so much so as in the allied genera, and bare for a 
considerable space above the heel (commonly, but improperly, 
called the knee). The toes remarkably short and stout. The 
plumage of the curlews is composed of a rather thick covering 
of somewhat loose though silky feathers, abundantly furnished 
with down. The colours, consisting of a mixture of greyish 
brown, white, and blackish, are very dull, and hardly vary in 
the different species. ‘The sexes are not distinguishable by 
difference of colour or stature: the female is perhaps a trifle 
smaller than the male. The young scarcely differ in plumage 
from the adults, but are well marked by their much shorter 
and straighter bill. They moult but once during the year, 
and late in the season. We have detected a clue to the species 
in the medial line of the crown, the colour of the rump, and of 
the under wing-coverts and long axillary feathers. 
The curlews are mute, timid, shy, and wary. They frequent, 
and seek their food in, salt marshes, and along muddy coasts 
and inlets, where at low water they may be observed in com- 
pany with other waders on the mud flats, or at high water 
roaming along the marshes. They but seldom alight on wet 
sands, and only when muddy shores are not to be found ; 
always preferring such on account of their flexible bill. They 
seldom desert the salt water, and are very rarely met with 
inland at a distance from the sea or large rivers: during 
summer, however, they often frequent dry fields in search of 
berries. They run swiftly, being much upon the ground: 
their flight is high, very rapid, and long sustained. ‘The voice 
of the curlews is loud and whistling: when about to com- 
