314 
PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLhE. 
of New Jersey about the middle of May, and again in September. He inferred — 
probably incorrectly — that these birds necessarily went north to breed. Their food 
seemed to consist chiefly of small crabs, for which they very dexterously probe, pull- 
ing them out of the holes with their long bills. They also feed on the small sea- 
snails, so common in the salt-marshes, and on various worms and insects. In the fall 
they are said to be very fond of the berries of the wild brambles, on which they feed 
with eagerness, becoming very fat, and are then excellent eating, not having the rank 
sedgy flavor acquired by those birds which feed exclusively in the marshes. Wilson 
states that in some cases one or two pairs have been known to remain in the salt- 
marshes at Cape May all through the summer. 
In Major Long’s expedition some of this species were observed in the northern 
part of Illinois (lat. 42° N.), June 15, from which it was naturally inferred that 
they were breeding there. It is now known that they probably breed in all, or nearly 
all, the Western States north of the Ohio and west of Lake Erie. 
Nuttall observed them on the muddy shores of the Santee, near Charleston, S. C., 
in January. Audubon afterward ascertained that this Curlew is a constant resident 
in the Southern States, that it is well known both in summer and winter about 
Charleston, and that it breeds on the islands on the coast of South Carolina ; but lie 
met with none of this species in Labrador or in any place from Eastport to the most 
northern portion visited by him, and he satisfied himself, from his inquiries among 
well-informed residents, that none are ever found there. 
The Rev. Dr. Bachman found it breeding in South Carolina, where it nested on the 
ground, forming a very scanty receptacle for its eggs, and placing the nests so closely 
together that it was almost impossible for a man to walk between them without 
injuring the eggs. 
In South Carolina Audubon observed that this species spent the day in the sea- 
marshes and returned at the approach of night to the sandy beaches of the sea-shore, 
where it rested until the morning. He states that the number of these birds that 
would thus collect for the night sometimes amounted to several thousands. He vis- 
ited Cole’s Island, near Charleston, in order to witness its movements. Just after 
sunset the birds began to make their appearance, in parties of from three to five, and 
were by no means shy. As it became darker the number of Curlews increased and 
the flocks approached in more rapid succession, until they seemed to form a contin- 
uous procession, moving in an extended mass at the height of not more than thirty 
yards, not a sound being heard except the regular flappings of their wings. They 
flew directly toward their resting place — known as the Bird Banks — and alighted 
without performing any evolutions. But when the party followed them to these 
banks — which were small sandy islands — the congregated flocks, amounting to 
several thousand individuals, all standing close together, rose at once, performed in 
silence a few evolutions, and re-alighted, as if with one accord, on the extreme margin 
of the sandbank, close to the. breakers. The next morning a little before daylight 
the party again visited the banks ; but as soon as they landed the birds all rose a few 
yards in the air, and flew off in various directions to their feeding-grounds. 
Mr. Moore has met this species in Florida during the summer months, but was 
not able to obtain any evidence that it breeds there, although regarding it as quite 
probable that this is the case on the more distant islands along the coast of that 
State. 
The eggs of this species, — which vary considerably in their ground-color and in 
the distribution of their markings — are pyriform, or a rounded oval pointed at one 
end. In one (S. I. No. 2910) the ground-color is a pale olive-drab, the markings being 
