262 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Range. —Formerly bred on barren grounds of North arid Northwest, chiefly in 
northwestern Alaska and northern Mackenzie; wintered on the plains of South 
America, chiefly in Argentina, but south to the Straits of Magellan; now nearly 
or quite extinct [none were observed in South America in 1920 and 1921 (Wetmore)]. 
State Records. —At the present time the Eskimo Curlew is probably the rarest 
bird in the Western Hemisphere and its extinction seems imminent. When it was 
abundant fifty years ago it went south in the fall across the Atlantic Ocean and on 
its return traversed the prairies of Texas, Kansas, and South Dakota on its way to 
the Arctic Coast. It never passed regularly west of Kansas and there is no sure 
record for either New Mexico or Colorado, but the straggler collected by Dr. Mearns 
April 8,1892, at Lake Palomas on the New Mexico-Chihuahua line would undoubtedly 
have crossed both these States within the next few days.—W. W. Cooke.] 
UPLAND PLOVER: Bartramia longicauda (Bechstein) 
Plate 26 
Description. — Length: 11-12.7 inches, wing 6.5-7, bill 1.1-1.1, tarsus 1.9-2. 
Head small, neck and legs long, tail graduated, reaching beyond tips of folded wings, 
outer and middle toes webbed at base. Adults in breeding plumage: Crown blackish, 
with median buffy lines, rest of upperparts dusky , scalloped and streaked with buffy 
brown, tending to black barring on wings and tail; rump blackish, outside feathers 
marked with white; tail mainly dull buff broadly tipped with white and crossed by 
irregular bars of black; outside wing quill with saw-toothed markings; axillars and 
wing linings white, sharply barred with dark brown; sides of head and neck, foreneck 
and upperbreast buff, narrowly streaked with black; broad streak over eye, white 
or pale buffy; part of breast, sides and flanks buff^ sharply barred with dark brown; 
chin and belly white; iris dark brown or blackish; bill yellow, with black ridge and 
tip; legs and feet dull greenish yellow. Adults in winter plumage: Similar to summer 
adults but paler. Young in juvenal plumage: Like adults but buff of head, throat 
and wings replaced by pinkish cinnamon, back black, feathers bordered with pinkish 
buff or white, giving scaled effect. 
Range— Mainly plains and prairie region of Rocky Mountains. Breeds from 
northwestern Alaska, southern Mackenzie, northern Manitoba, southern Ontario, 
and southern Quebec south to Virginia, Oklahoma, northeastern Utah, and southern 
Oregon; winters on open plains of Ecuador, Uruguay, and central Argentina. 
State Records.— Formerly the Upland Plover bred in eastern New Mexico, but 
it has become so scarce that it is unusual to see half a dozen during a breeding season. 
[From June 1-18, 1924, on an automobile trip in eastern New Mexico, from Carlsbad 
to Cimarron by way of Lovington, Tatum, White Lakes, Portales, Clovis, Grady, 
1 ucumcari, Nara Visa, Clayton, Roy, Springer, and Cimarron, a Close lookout was 
kept for it, but only one bird was seen—on June 10, 5 miles southwest of Nara Visa. 
This was probably a breeding bird. On September 20, 1924, another lone bird was 
seen in the Jornada, about 4 miles northeast of Engle. In June, 1925, a single bird, 
apparently one of a breeding pair, was seen near Logan in Quay County. In 1926’ 
when covering the plains and prairie sections of eastern New Mexico in spring, sum¬ 
mer and faff, not one was seen. In May, 1926, however, a few were reported from 
t ic Rosebud section (Ligon).] New Mexico lies along the western edge of the mi¬ 
gration range of the Upland Plover. [Formerly it was abundant throughout eastern 
New Mexico during both spring and fall migrations (Ligon).] Many years ago 
it was found in August on the Rio Grande near Fort Thorn (Henry); and it has been 
lonwT? 1 f t X Co 1 Unty (Charles Springer); it was taken near Carlsbad August 6, 
l.)01 (Fuertes), and seen there, August 1-14, 1910 (Dearborn); at the Bolles Ranch 
