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ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 
Numenius borealis , Nutt all. Audubon. 
Scolopax borealis , Wilson, 
Numenius. Numenia —The new moon, from the curved shape of the 
bill. Borealis—Of or belonging to the north. 
This species of Curlew is a native of the northern parts 
of North America. 
Its first occurrence as an ‘addendum’ to our British list 
was on the 6th. of September, 1855, when a specimen was 
shot by W. R. Cusack Smith, Esq., in the parish of Burris, 
in the county of Kincardine, Scotland, on the top of one of 
the mountains of the Grampian range. 
These birds appear to migrate southwards by the beginning 
of August, returning to the north in the spring. 
If pursued they are said to crouch close to the ground, even 
the head and neck being laid down. They congregate in dense 
flocks. 
They fly in an easy manner, and run swiftly. 
They feed on water insects and their larvse, as also on the 
fruit of the cranberry. 
The note, uttered on the wing, is a soft whistle, often 
repeated. 
The eggs are three or four in number, and of a green 
colour, with a few large irregular-shaped spots of bright brown. 
Male; length, about fourteen inches; bill, brownish black, 
the base of the lower mandible pale yellowish red; iris, dark 
brown, over the eye is a nearly white streak. Head and crown, 
brownish black, the feathers edged with reddish brown, on the 
sides yellowish brown with brown streaks; neck, light yellowish 
brown; the feathers edged with dull white, the fore part light 
brown with small longitudinal reddish brown marks. Throat, 
