The Hudsonian Curlew 
Distribution in California. —Abundant spring and fall migrant, chiefly coast¬ 
wise, but also at various interior points: Dos Palos, May 22, 1914, May 22, 1916; 
Salton Sea, Apr. 27, 1917; Bishop, May 29, 1919. Returns to (Ventura County) 
coast by July 10th. Casual in winter: Santa Cruz Island, Dec. 8, 1907 (Linton); 
Santa Barbara, Dec. 26, 1914. 
Authorities.—Cassin ( Numenius hudsonicus ), in Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., 
vol. ix., 1858, p. 744 (Presidio); Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 1, 1900, p. 27 
(n. Alaska; breeding habits, nest, eggs, etc.); Tyler, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 9, 1913. 
p. 30 (San Joaquin Valley; habits). 
KNOWN only as a migrant, the Hudsonian Curlew, or “Jack,” as 
he is affectionately called, is one of the most familiar and picturesque 
features of California beach life. The Jacks are wary without being 
unreasonable about it. A little artifice of approach will ensure a coveted 
“specimen”; but slaughter is, fortunately, a difficult matter and the 
price one inevitably pays for any display of firearms is the forfeiture of 
Curlew confidence along that immediate stretch of coast. Since Jack’s 
tenure of the beaches is coincident with the period of our own greatest 
interest, viz., in July and August, it is rather important that we under¬ 
stand each other. The Curlews ask only to be let alone, and if one will 
really mind his own business while at the beach, he may have most 
rewarding views of these feathered gentry as they sidle toward the quiet 
watcher, or “cross his bows” between the upper beach and the surf. 
Taken near Santa Barbara 
Photo by the .4 nthor 
1286 
TWO SANDERLINGS ARE INCLUDED 
