ESQ UIMA UX CURLE W 317 



ESQUIMAUX CUELEW. (Scohpax boredUs.) 



PLATE L VI. -Fig. 1. 



Arct. Zool. p. 461, No. 364. — Lath. iii. — Turt. Syst. p. 392. — Peale's Museum, 



No. 4003. 



NUMENIUS BOREALIS.- Latham.* 



Numenius borealis, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 712. — Bonap. Synop. No. 244. — North. 

 Zool. ii. p. 378, pi. 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, sub- 

 sisting on the gleanings of that vast watery magazine of nature, 

 invite our attention, and, from their singularities and numbers, 

 promise both amusement and instruction. These we shall, as 

 usual, introduce in the order we chance to meet with them in 

 their native haunts. Individuals of various tribes thus pro- 

 miscuously grouped together, the peculiarities of each will 

 appear more conspicuous and striking, and the detail of their 

 histories less formal, as well 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. phceopus) ; but, 

 among the great numbers of these birds which I have myself 

 shot and examined, I have never yet met with one corre- 

 sponding to the descriptions given of the whimbrel, the 

 colours and markings being different, the bill much more 



* This species has been by some supposed to be identical with the JV. 

 phceopus of Europe, but I 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 Empetrum nigrum. The Copper 

 Indians believe that this bird, and some others, betray the approach 

 of an enemy. Their nests and habits while breeding resemble those of 

 the common curlew. — Ed. 



