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The Hudsonian Curlew 
Distinctive 
Features 
There is so much variation in the length of the bill, at various ages, that 
young birds with short bills are often mistaken for the Eskimo Curlew, 
and old birds with extra long bills are often called Long-billed Curlews, 
or Sickle-bills. 
There are certain characters, however, by which this species may be 
recognized at any age. The Long-billed Curlew is much larger, the 
crown of its head is uniformly streaked, without any median stripe, and 
its axillars have no distinct bars ; whereas the Hudsonian has a dusky crown 
with a light median stripe, and its axillars are distinctly barred with 
dusky. The Eskimo Curlew may readily be dis- 
tinguished by its uniformly dusky primaries ; where- 
as in the Hudsonian the primaries have distinct buff 
spots, or partial bars, on the inner webs. 
The Hudsonian Curlew is widely distributed over nearly all of North 
America and part of South America. Its breeding-range has not been 
fully worked out, but it is known to breed on the Barren Grounds of 
northern Mackenzie, and on the coast of Alaska from the mouth of the 
Yukon to Kotzebue Sound. Its principal winter range is on the western 
coast of South America from Ecuador to southern Chile, where it is very 
abundant ; it also winters from Lower California to the coast of southern 
Honduras ; and on the eastern coast its winter range extends from 
British Guiana to the mouth of the Amazon River. 
The spring migration on the Atlantic coast reaches Florida during 
the latter half of March, the Carolinas about the middle of April, and 
Massachusetts about the middle of May. The dates vary greatly in 
different seasons, the northward movement being very gradual and the 
migration-period often much prolonged. On the Pacific coast, the main 
flight appears in southern California about the middle of March, pro- 
gresses slowly northward, reaches Alaska about the middle of May, and 
arrives on the breeding-grounds in northern Mackenzie by the end of 
May. 
Like most of the northern-breeding shore-birds, the Hudsonian Cur- 
lew moves off its breeding-grounds as soon as the 
Migration young are able to shift for themselves, and begins its 
summer wanderings, or starts on its southward migra- 
tion, early in July. There are two main lines of flight, down the east 
and west coasts of the continent, as well as a more scattering flight 
through the central valleys and plains. 
The eastward flight is from the west coast of Hudson Bay, where 
many birds linger through August, to the coasts of New England and 
southward. A few Hudsonian Curlews migrate as far east as Labrador ; 
the species has never been common there, but since the disappearance of 
the Eskimo Curlew it seems to have increased. On the New England 
coast the heavy flights often occur in September, and young birds often 
linger until well into October. 
The southward movement in the fall is very deliberate, and the last 
of the birds do not pass through the West Indies to South America until 
