22 
SHORT-BILLED CURLEW.* 
NUMEJVIUS BOEEJILIS. 
[Plate LVI. — Fig. 1.] 
Eskmaux Curlew^ Arct. Zool. No. 364. — Brasilian JVhmbrel? Lath. Syn, voL 3,/>. 125. — 
Numenius Guarauna? Ind. Orn. 712, No. 8/ N. borealis. Idem^ No. 9; N. Hudsonicusy 
Id. No. 7. — Le Courly brim d'*Amerique? Bniss. Om, vol. 5, p. 330. 
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, subsisting on the 
gleanings of that vast magazine of nature, invite our attention; 
and fi’om 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 promiscuously grouped together, the pecu- 
liarities of each will appear more conspicuous and striking, and the 
detail of their histories less formal, as well as more interesting. 
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. Phaeopus) ; but among the great numbei’s of 
these birds which I have myself shot and examined, I have never 
yet met with one corresponding to the descriptions given of the 
lEIiiinbrel, the colors and markings being different, the bill much 
more bent, and nearly an inch and a half longer ; and the manners 
in certain particulars very different : these reasons have determin- 
ed its claim to that of an independent species. 
The Short-billed Curlew arrives in large flocks on the sea- 
coast of New Jersey early in May from the south ; frequents the 
Named in the Plate Esquimaux Curlew. 
