ESQUIMAUX CUKLEW. 61 
^ membrane, and bordered along; the sides witb 
thick warty edge ; lining of the n ing, dark rufous, 
»?P''‘'“elting a chestnut, and thinly spotted with black, 
j "0 and female alike in plumage. The bill continues 
, . grow ill length until the second season, nhen the 
^ird receives its perfect plumage. The stomach of this 
to is lined witb an extremely thick skin, feeling 
Or 11 iiPo the rough hardened palm of a sailor 
8u ■ '^^'®mith. The intestines are very tender, mca- 
as*^***” Usually about three feet in length, and as thick 
jj, ^ ®"'an’s quill. On the front, under the skin, there 
gj.® '■"’0 thick callosities, which border the upper side 
1 1 ,? *yG, lying close to the skull. These are common, 
elicve, to most of the tringa and scolopax tribes, and 
P''ohahly designed to protect the skull from injury 
*'m the bird is probing and searching in the sand and 
216 . NUMENIUS nunSONJCUSi LATHAM. 
^^OLOPAX BOREALIS, WILSON. — ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 
WILSON, ELATE LVl. FIG. I. 
SUn*'*^ Esquimaux curlew, or, as it is called by our 
DeeiT’*^ on the sea coast, the short-billed curlew, is 
cq * ’.***■ to the new continent. Mr Pennant, indeed, 
’i- fo 1)0 a mere variety of the English 
cCti'^P'^ol (,S.j;A(ropKs); but among the great numbers 
1 li **!*'*^ ^ii'ds which 1 have myself shot and examined, 
*'.o never yet met with one corresponding to the 
U)j®i^.P*^'Ons given of the wbimbrel, the colours and 
I'ngs keing different, the bill much move bent, and 
eert' ^ “*“1 a half longer, and the manners in 
dete""' P“''^'onlars very dift'erent : these reasons have 
rj,5*uiued its claim to that of an independent species. 
**nort-billcd curlew arrives in large flocks on the 
frg ®®*'**' ot New .Tersey, early in May, from the south, 
ike salt marshes, muddy shores, and inlets, 
ai'e small worms and minute shell fish. They 
■Uost commonly seen on mud flats at low water, in 
