GRALLATORES. 377 



Web between the middle and outer toes five lines and a half deep in the centre ; the inner 

 web measures a line less. 







iDch. 



Lin. 





UlWlSSSblVPiS. 



Inch. 



Lin. 







Inch. 



Lin. 



Length 



, total 



24 



6 



Length 



of naked thigh , 



1 



9 



Length 



of inner toe 



1 



3 



99 



of tail 



. 4 



9 



99 



of tarsus 



. 3 



H 



99 



of its nail . 



. 



21 



"■2 



99 



of wing 



11 



9 



99 



of middle toe 



1 



7 



99 



of hind toe 



. 



H 



99 



of bill above 



. 6 



3 



99 



of middle nail 



. 



4* 



99 



of its nail . 







2 



99 



of bill to rictus 



. G 



6 



















[145.] 2. Numenius Hudsonicus. (Lath.) Hudsonian Curlew. 



Genus, Numenius, Lath. 



Eskimaux Curlew. Penn. Arct. ZooL, ii., p. 461, No. 3C4 ; (fide Lath.) 



Hudsonian Curlew. Lath. Syn. Suppl, vii., p. 243, sp. 11. 



Numenius Hudsonicus. Idem, Ind., ii., p. 712, sp. 7- 



Esquimaux Curlew (Scolopax borealis). Wils., vii., p. 22, pi. 56, f. 1.* 



Numenius Hudsonicus. Bonap. Syn., No. 243. 



Waw-kaw-cuttaysew. Cree Indians. 



This Curlew breeds in the interior of the fur-countries, visiting- the marshy 

 shores of Hudson's Bay in the spring- and fall. Hearne reports that it resorts 

 in great numbers, on the ebbing of the tide, to low-water mark, to feed on marine 

 insects, retiring to dry ridges at high-water. " It flies," he says, " as steady 

 as a Woodcock, answers to a whistle that resembles its note, is a most excellent 

 shot, and when fat proves to be delicious eating." Mr. Hutchins describes its 

 eggs as being of a tapering form, and of a light bluish-grey colour, with black 

 spots. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen, killed on the Saskatchewan plains, May, 1827. 



Colour. — Upper plumage (including the rump and a stripe on the lores) dull liver-brown, 

 with pale brownish-grey marginal spots, that become bars on the lesser quills and tail coverts; 

 crown of the head darker f ; five greater quills blackish-brown, and unspotted ; shaft of the 

 first one white. Tail clove-brown, with nine blackish-brown bars, one of them terminal. 

 Superciliary stripe, sides of the head, the neck, and breast, dull yellowish-grey, with narrow 

 stripes of liver-brown ; sides of the breast blotched with the same. Chin, belly, and under 

 tail coverts white, the latter slightly tinged with buff. Flanks, long axillaries, and under 



* Wilson's figure represents a bird in brighter plumage than our specimen, with more white on the rump and 

 livelier colours on the tail. His quotation from Pennant relates to Numenius borealis, that author having misapplied 

 Mr. Hutchins's notes. 



•f 'When the plumage is arranged smoothly, there is no pale medial crown stripe in our specimen ; but the concealed 

 borders of some of the feathers are brownish-grey. 



3 C 



