SCOLOPACIDzE — THE SNIPE FAMILY — NUMENIUS. 
319 
The Smaller Eskimo Curlew, or “ Dough-bird,” as it is called in New England — 
in distinction from the larger Hudsonicus — has a widely extended distribution over 
nearly the whole of North and South America. It is included by Reinhardt among 
the birds of Greenland, and probably correctly, though his evidence was inferential 
rather than positive. It has been obtained at Fort Yukon by Messrs. McDougal, 
Lockhart, and Jones, but was found nowhere in Alaska west or south of that point. 
It has been detected on no part of the Pacific coast, so far as I am aware, although 
Dr. Heermann speaks of it as common in the San Francisco market. It has not been 
obtained there by any of the collectors, and Dr. Cooper has no doubt that Dr. Heer- 
mann must have had reference to the Hudsonicus. It breeds throughout all the 
northern portions of North America, to the very borders and islands of the Arctic 
Sea. Several specimens have been taken in Great Britain. Where it passes its 
winters, or the extent of its wanderings from November to April, is only imperfectly 
known. It is not given as occurring in St. Croix, Cuba, Jamaica, or St. Domingo. 
Leotaud mentions the capture of only a single specimen of this species in Trinidad ; 
this was taken in a dry meadow in the month of September. It appears to be equally 
rare in Central America, where only a single specimen of it is recorded as having- 
been taken — by Mr. R. Owen, at San Geronimo, in Guatemala. It occurs in its migra- 
tions on the Gulf-coast of Mexico, but in what number, and for how long a period it 
is found, is not known with accuracy. Mr. Dresser met with it in spring at San 
Antonio, where it was more common than the Hudsonicus, but not so abundant as 
the longirostris. Dr. Merrill also speaks of this species as being abundant, during 
its migrations, in the same regions, and he is confident that some spend the winter 
in the valley of the Lower Rio Grande. 
According to the observations of Mr. Nelson, this Curlew passes in considerable 
numbers through the interior in its migrations. He speaks of it as rather common 
in Northern Illinois during these movements. It is said to arrive a little later than 
the Hudsonicus, passes north with short delay, and returns about the last of Sep- 
tember and in October, frequenting the wet prairies in company with the Golden 
Plover. 
The facts that this species is of such rare occurrence in the West Indies and in 
Central America; that it is found with so much apparent uncertainty on the Atlan- 
tic coast; that its appearance may almost always be explained by the interruption 
of its flight by storms ; and that it is nowhere to be found within our limits during 
the winter — all this points to South America as its residence during that season. 
We infer also that its migrations, both in the fall and in the spring, are made in long 
continuous flights, without any stoppage on the way, except when such is caused by 
stress of weather, unfavorable winds, fogs, and the like. In this opinion we are 
strengthened by the fact that this bird may be found on the Amazon and in various 
other portions of Brazil as early as September, where Natterer procured specimens in 
considerable numbers. Darwin met with it at Buenos Ayres, and Lichtenstein found 
it at Montevideo. 
We also have the confirmation given by Mr. H. Durnford, in his “ Notes on 
the Birds of Central Patagonia” (“Ibis,” 1878, p. 404), where he states that he wit- 
nessed the passage of large migratory flocks of this species, from the 8th to the 10th 
of October, through the valley of the Chupat, in latitude 45° S. They made but a 
short stay in that valley — two specimens only having been procured — and were 
not seen again. 
In this connection the fact, noted by Dr. Lincecum, is not without interest — that 
this species, known there as the “ Curlew Sandpiper,” occurred in his neighborhood 
