ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 
313 
ESQUIMAUX CURLEW —SCOLOPAX BOREALIS. 
Plate LVI. Fig. 1. 
Arct. Zool. p. 461, No. 364. — Lath, iii Turt. Syst. p. 392 Peak's Museum, 
No. 4003. 
NUMENIUS BOREALIS. — Latham.* 
Numenius borealis, Lath. Lid. Orn. ii. p. 712. — Bonap. Synop. No. 244. — North. 
Zool. ii. p. 378, pi. 65. 
In prosecuting our researches among the feathered tribes 
of this extensive country, we are at length led to the shores 
of the ocean, where a numerous and varied multitude, sub- 
sisting on the gleanings of that vast watery magazine of nature, 
invite our attention ; and, from their singularities and numbers, 
promise both amusement and instruction. These we shall, as 
usual, introduce in the order we chance to meet with them in 
their native haunts. Individuals of various tribes thus pro- 
miscuously grouped together, the peculiarities of each will 
appear more conspicuous and striking, and the detail of their 
histories less formal, as well as more interesting. 
The Esquimaux Curlew, or, as it is called by our gunners 
on the sea coast, the Short-billed Curlew, is peculiar to the 
new continent. Mr Pennant, indeed, conceives it to be a 
mere variety of the English Whimbrel, ( S . phceopus ;) but, 
among the great numbers of these birds which I have myself 
shot and examined, I have never yet met with one corres- 
ponding to the descriptions given of the Whimbrel, the 
colours and markings being different, the bill much more bent, 
* This species has been by some supposed to be identical with the N. 
phceopus of Europe, but I believe later investigations have proved that it is 
entirely distinct, the Whimbrel having not yet been found to inhabit any part 
of America. The Northern Zoology mentions it as inhabiting the barren lands 
within the arctic circle in summer, where it feeds on insects and the berries of 
Empetrum nigrum. The Copper Indians believe that this bird, and some 
others, betray the approach of an enemy. Their nests and habits, while 
breeding, resemble those of the common Curlew. — Ed. 
