262 
SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 
from water. Their food consists of worms, crickets, beetles, grass- 
hoppers, small snails, crabs and crawfish; the latter they reach for with 
their long bills and pull them out of their holes; and I have seen them 
probe for and unearth the larvae of the beetles and other forms of life 
that in the spring come to or near the surface preparatory to trans- 
formation. While feeding they move about with an easy carriage. 
“Their flight is not rapid but well sustained, with regular strokes 
of the wings, and when going a distance usually high and in a trian- 
gular form, uttering now and then their loud, prolonged whistling note, 
so often heard during the breeding season; before alighting, suddenly 
drop nearly to the ground, then gather, and with a rising sweep grace- 
fully alight” (Goss). 
265. lumenius hudsonicus Lath. Hudsonian _ Curlew. Ads . — 
Upperparts grayish brown, the sides of the feathers with buff or whitish 
spots; rump and tail barred with buffy and blackish; inner web of outer 
primaries and both webs of inner ones barred with buffy or whitish and black: 
underparts buffy or whitish, neck and breast streaked and sides and under 
wing-coverts barred with black. L., 17'00; W., 9*50; Tar., 2’20; B., 3*75. 
Remarks. — Young birds often have the bill as short as in N. borealis 
from which, however, they may always be distinguished by their barred 
primaries. 
Range. — N. and S. A. Breeds on the coast of Alaska from mouth of 
Yukon to Kotzebue Sound, and on the coast of n. Mackenzie; winters from 
L. Calif, to s. Honduras, from Ecuador to s. Chile, and from B. Guiana to 
mouth of the Amazon; migrates mainly along the Pacific and Atlantic 
coasts; rare in the interior; casual on the Pribilof Islands and in Greenland 
and Bermuda; accidental in Spain. 
Long Island, T. V., rare Apl. 28-May 30; common from July-Oct. 1. 
Eggs, 3-4, pale olive, spotted with dull brown, 2*27 x 1*57 (Ridgw.), 
Date, e. of Anderson River, Mack., July 4. 
From Virginia to South Carolina, this is an abundant bird during 
its migrations, but it evidently travels over the sea, for it is compara- 
tively uncommon in our North Atlantic States. During their migra- 
tions they select certain isolated islets as roosting-places and return 
to them night after night. 
1892. Mackay, G. H., Auk, IX, 345-352 (in Mass.). 
266. Numenius borealis (Forst.). Eskimo Curlew. Ads. — Upper- 
parts black, margined and tipped with buffy or whitish; upper tail-coverts 
barred with buffy and black; tail brownish gray, edged with buffy and 
barred with black; primaries fuscous without bars; underparts buffy or whit- 
ish, the breast streaked, the sides and under wing-coverts barred with black. 
L., 13*50; W., 8-40; Tar., P75; B., 2*40. 
Range. — N. and S. A. Breeds on the Barren Grounds of n. Mackenzie; 
winters in Argentina and Patagonia; now nearly extinct. 
Long Island, very rare T. V., Aug.-Sept. 
Eggs, 3-4, pale olive-greenish, olive, or olive-brownish, distinctly 
spotted, chiefly on the larger end, with deep or dark brown, 2*04 x 1’43 
(Ridgw.). Date, e. of Anderson River, Mack., June 20. 
“Most of their habits closely resemble those of the Golden Plover. 
In migration they fly in much the same manner, with extended and 
broadside and triangular lines and clusters similar to those of Ducks 
