Part 2 — Introduction (continued 5)

Plumages.—There are not enough specimens of Eskimo curlews, collected during the proper seasons, to work out the molts and plumages satisfactorily. There are no specimens of downy young or very young juvenals available. Young birds in juvenal plumage, as seen on migration, are much like adults, but the feathers of the mantle, scapulars, tertials, and wing coverts are more broadly edged, but less conspicuously notched, with “pinkish buff”; and the under parts are less extensively covered with the dusky markings.

The postnuptial molt of adults is mainly accomplished after they have left us in the fall, beginning in September; the wings are probably molted after the birds have reached their winter home. There is a prenuptial molt of the body plumage, visible during the spring migration, the new feathers, being more pinkish buff, especially on the under parts.

Food.—Professor Swenk (1915) says of its food habits in the west:

The Eskimo curlew was a bird of such food habits that it is a distinct loss to our agriculture that it should have disappeared. During the invasion of the Rocky Mountain grasshopper (Melanoplus spretus) it did splendid work in the destruction of grasshoppers and their eggs. Mr. Wheeler states that in the latter seventies these birds would congregate on pieces of land which had not been plowed and where the grasshopper eggs were laid, reach down into the soil with their long bills, and drag out the egg capsules, which they would then devour with their contents of eggs or young hoppers until the land had been cleared of the pests. A specimen examined by Aughey in 1874 had 31 grasshoppers in its stomach, together with a large number of small berries of some kind. The bird in its migrations often alighted on plowed ground to feed on the white grubs and cutworms turned up by the plow, or in meadow lands, probably feeding on ants in the latter situation. Richardson records finding them feeding on large ants at Fort Franklin in late May, 1849. The curlews were rarely seen near water, but were upland birds almost exclusively during the spring migration over the Great Plains region.

Doctor Coues (1874) describes its food on the Labrador coast, as follows:

Their food consists almost entirely of the crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), which grows on all the hillsides in astonishing profusion. It is also called the “bearberry” and “curlew berry.” It is a small berry, of a deep purple color, almost black, growing upon a procumbent, running kind of heath, the foliage of which has a peculiar moss-like appearance. This is their principal and favorite food and the whole intestine, the vent, the legs, the bill, throat, and even the plumage, are more or less stained with the deep purple juice. They are also very fond of a species of small snail that adheres to the rock in immense quantities, to procure which they frequent the land-washes at low tide. Food being so abundant, and so easily obtained, they become excessively fat. In this condition they are most delicious eating, being tender, juicy, and finely flavored; but, as might be expected, they prove a very difficult job for the taxidermist.

Behavior.—Lucien M. Turner gives, in his Ungava notes, a vivid description of a large flock of Eskimo curlews, which I quote, as follows:

I saw none until the morning of the 4th of September, 1884, as we were passing out from the mouth of the Koksoak River. Here an immense flock of several hundred individuals were making their way to the south. They flew in that peculiar manner which distinguishes the curlews from all other birds in flight, a sort of wedge shape, the sides of which were constantly swaying back and forth like a cloud of smoke wafted by the lightest zephyr. The aerial evolutions of the curlews when migrating are, perhaps, one of the most wonderful in the flight of birds. Long, dangling lines, either perpendicular or horizontal, the lower parts of which whirl, rise, or twist spirally, while the apex of the flock is seemingly at rest. At other times the leader plunges downward successively followed by the remainder in most graceful undulations, becoming a dense mass then separating into a thin sheet spread wide; again reforming into such a variety of positions that no description would suffice.

Mr. Mackay (1892c) says:

Of those I have observed in New England during a series of years I may say that 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 and geese at such times. They usually fly low after landing, sweeping slowly over the ground, apparently looking it over, generally standing motionless for quite a little while after alighting, which, owing to their general color approximating so closely to the withered grass, renders it difficult at times to perceive them. I have had a flock of 50 or 60 alight within 30 yards of me, and have been unable to make out more than two or three birds. If disturbed they will frequently alight again at no great distance, if not previously harassed, and under the same conditions they can be approached at all times, for they are either very tame or very shy. They seek out and are found in the same localities selected by the golden plover with which they generally associate if any are in the vicinity, there always being a strong friendship between them. They are not so active as the plover; on the ground they appear less inclined to move about, especially after landing and during rainy weather when I have at times noticed them standing on the ground quite close together, every bird headed to the wind, with heads and necks drawn down and resting on their backs, with the rain running off their tails. At such times they could be approached on foot to within half a gunshot, showing little fear.

Doctor Coues (1874) writes:

The curlews associate in flocks of every size, from three to as many thousand, but they generally fly in so loose and straggling a manner that it is rare to kill more than half a dozen at a shot. When they wheel, however, in any of their many beautiful evolutions, they close together in a more compact body, and offer a more favorable opportunity to the gunner. Their flight is firm, direct, very swift, when necessary much protracted, and is performed with regular, rapid beats. They never sail, except when about to alight, when the wings are much incurved downward, in the manner of most waders. As their feet touch the ground, their long, pointed wings are raised over the back, until the tips almost touch, and then deliberately folded, much in the manner of the solitary sandpiper (Rhyacophilus solitarius).

Voice.—Professor Swenk (1915) describes the notes as follows:

The Eskimo curlew had several notes. During flight they uttered a fluttering tr-tr-tr note, which was given by many individuals at once, and described by Coues as a “low conversational chatter” and by Mackay as “a soft, melodious whistle, ‘bee, bee.’” Mr. W. A. Elwood describes this note as “a short, low whistle” continually repeated by many of the birds simultaneously while in flight. Mr. A. J. Leach recalls the notes as resembling quite closely the note of the bluebird when in flight, only perhaps shorter and more of a twittering whistle, and, as it was given by a large number, perhaps all, of the flock as they took wing and while flying, it was difficult to catch the individual note. This note was constantly uttered while the birds were flying and was often audible before the birds could be seen. Before alighting, as they descended and sailed, they gave a soft whistle, somewhat like the note of the upland plover, according to Professor Bruner, while as they walked over the ground when feeding they uttered a chirruping whistle, as if calling to each other.

Fall.—The adult birds must have started off their breeding grounds early in July for the first arrivals reached the coast of Labrador by the end of that month. Their course at first was east-southeast, or perhaps nearly due east, across Hudson Bay to the Labrador Peninsula, where they lingered for a week or two to feast and fatten on the abundant harvest of berries. Turner saw them as far north as the mouth of the Koksoak River, and says in his notes:

From the 10th to the 20th of August immense flocks of these birds appear on the level tracts from Davis’ Inlet to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, each day adding to their number until the ground seems alive with them. They feed on the ripening berries of Empetrum and Vaccinium, becoming wonderfully fat in a few days. By the 8th of September it is asserted that none remain.

Audubon (1840) writes:

On the 29th of July, 1833, during a thick fog, the Esquimaux curlews made their first appearance in Labrador, near the harbor of Bras d’Or. They evidently came from the north, and arrived in such dense flocks as to remind me of the passenger pigeons. The weather was extremely cold as well as foggy. For more than a week we had been looking for them, as was every fisherman in the harbor, these birds being considered there, as indeed they are, great delicacies. The birds at length came, flock after flock, passed close round our vessel, and directed their course toward the sterile mountainous tracts in the neighborhood; and as soon as the sun’s rays had dispersed the fogs that hung over the land, our whole party went off in search of them.

I was not long in discovering that their stay on this coast was occasioned solely by the density of the mists and the heavy gales that already gave intimation of the approaching close of the summer; for whenever the weather cleared up a little, thousands of them set off and steered in a straight course across the broad Gulf of St. Lawrence. On the contrary, when the wind was high, and the fogs thick, they flew swiftly and low over the rocky surface of the country, as if bewildered. Wherever there was a spot that seemed likely to afford a supply of food, there the curlews abounded, and were easily approached. By the 12th of August, however, they had all left the country.

The eastward flight reached as far as Newfoundland, where they were fairly numerous along the eastern and southeastern shores. There was also a migration, probably down the west coast of Hudson Bay, which reached the Atlantic coast through Ontario and the Great Lakes region. But the main flight was through Labrador, across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Nova Scotia and then due south across the ocean to the Lesser Antilles and South America; their course in South America is not well known, but it was probably across eastern Brazil, to Uruguay, Argentina, and Patagonia, where they arrived in September.

In fair weather the 2,000-mile trip across the ocean was probably made in one continuous flight, though I believe that these birds were able to alight on and rise from the water if necessary. But if bad weather, severe southeasterly storms, thick fogs, or heavy rains occurred during their passage, they were forced to land, sometimes in enormous numbers on the coast of New England, less often on the shores farther south, or on the Bermudas; if severe westerly gales occurred they were sometimes driven far out to sea or even across the Atlantic to the British Isles. Our flights in Massachusetts could be looked for during the latter half of August and through September. On Cape Cod they used to frequent much the same localities as the golden plover, old fields and pastures, often several miles from the shore, and the drier portions of the salt marshes, where they found an abundance of grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects; on Monomoy they were often found on the low sand hills which were largely covered with gray mosses or lichens. Mr. Mackay (1892c) writes:

Those which do visit us almost invariably land with their boon companions, the American golden plover, of whose flocks I have frequently noticed they were the leaders, and I can scarcely call to mind, as I write, an instance where any number of Eskimo curlew have landed without there being more or less golden plover present at the same time. Those birds which may come can not, if they would, remain any longer than is absolutely necessary, for they are so harassed immediately after landing that the moment there occurs a change in the weather favorable for migration they at once depart. They appear to leave the coast at Long Island, N. Y., and strike farther out to sea, and then are not seen on the Atlantic coast for another year.

Game.—The gunner’s name for the Eskimo curlew was “dough-bird,” not “doe-bird,” for it was so fat when it reached us in the fall that its breast would often burst open when it fell to the ground, and the thick layer of fat was so soft that it felt like a ball of dough. It is no wonder that it was so popular as a game bird, for it must have made a delicious morsel for the table. It was so tame and unsuspicious and it flew in such dense flocks that it was easily killed in large numbers. On the Labrador coasts and in Newfoundland the inhabitants killed all they could and preserved them for winter use, according to Mr. Berteau (Carroll, 1910), “by parboiling them and packing them in tins and jars and covering them with melted butter or lard.” Coues (1874) tells of shooting them in Labrador, as follows:

Although the curlews were in such vast numbers, I did not find them so tame as might be expected and as I had been led to suppose by previous representations. I was never able to walk openly within shooting distance of a flock, though I was told it was often done. The most successful method of obtaining them is to take such a position as they will probably fly over in passing from one feeding ground to another. They may then be shot with ease, as they rarely fly high at such times. The pertinacity with which they cling to certain feeding grounds, even when much molested, I saw strikingly illustrated on one occasion. The tide was rising and about to flood a muddy flat, of perhaps an acre in extent, where their favorite snails were in great quantities. Although six or eight gunners were stationed upon the spot, and kept up a continual round of firing upon the poor birds, they continued to fly distractedly about over our heads, notwithstanding the numbers that every moment fell. They seemed in terror lest they should lose their accustomed fare of snails that day. On another occasion, when the birds had been so harassed for several hours as to deprive them of all opportunity of feeding, great numbers of them retired to a very small island, or rather a large pile of rocks, a few hundred yards from the shore, covered with seaweed and, of course, with snails. Flock after flock alighted on it, till it was completely covered with the birds, which there, in perfect safety, obtained their morning meal.

I can remember hearing my father tell of the great shooting they used to have on “the plains” at Cohasset when I was a small boy, about 1870. As he has now gone to the happy hunting grounds I can not give the exact figures, but he saw a wagon loaded full of “dough birds” shot on the plains in one day.

The greatest killings were made on the western plains during the spring migration, which Professor Swenk (1915) describes as follows:

During such flights the slaughter of these poor birds was appalling and almost unbelievable. Hunters would drive out from Omaha and shoot the birds without mercy until they had literally slaughtered a wagonload of them, the wagons being actually filled, and often with the sideboards on at that. Sometimes when the flight was unusually heavy and the hunters were well supplied with ammunition their wagons were too quickly and easily filled, so whole loads of the birds would be dumped on the prairie, their bodies forming piles as large as a couple of tons of coal, where they would be allowed to rot while the hunters proceeded to refill their wagons with fresh victims, and thus further gratify their lust of killing. The compact flocks and tameness of the birds made this slaughter possible, and at each shot usually dozens of the birds would fall. In one specific instance a single shot from an old muzzle-loading shotgun into a flock of these curlews as they veered by the hunter brought down 28 birds at once, while for the next half mile every now and then a fatally wounded bird would drop to the ground dead. So dense were the flocks when the birds were turning in their flight that one could scarcely throw a brick or missile into it without striking a bird.

In hunting these curlew the field glass was used by the hunters to follow their flights. The fields where they were prone to gather were patroled many times during the day and carefully scanned with the glass to discover the flocks on the ground. When the birds came in they would be up quite high, perhaps from 200 or 300 yards to a quarter of a mile, and in preparing to alight they would turn and wheel, towering in the air while they whistled softly, would hover a while, and then all drop and come down, flying along over the ground for a short distance before alighting. The birds would always alight all at once and very close together, and if the day were warm they would sit down very close together on the ground, forming bunches, when they could be readily discovered with the field glass and approached close enough to get a shot.

There was no difficulty in getting quite close to the sitting birds, perhaps within 25 or 35 yards, and when at about this distance the hunters would wait for them to arise on their feet, which was the signal for the first volley of shots. The startled birds would rise and circle about the field a few times, affording ample opportunity for further murderous discharge of the guns, and sometimes would realight on the same field, when the attack would be repeated. Mr. Wheeler has killed as many as 37 birds with a pump gun at one rise. They weighed just about 1 pound each when they were fat. Sometimes the bunch would be seen with the glass alighting in a field 2 or 3 miles away, when the hunters would at once drive to that field with a horse and buggy as rapidly as they could, relocate the birds, get out, and resume the fusillade and slaughter. On rainy days the birds would fly restlessly from one field to another, moving about in this way most of the day and seeming unusually plentiful because of being so much in the air.

Winter.—There is little known about the winter habits of the Eskimo curlew except that it formerly associated with the golden plover, the upland plover, and the buff-breasted sandpiper on the pampas of Argentina and Patagonia, where it is now but a memory of the past.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—North and South America, accidental in eastern Asia and Great Britain.

The Eskimo curlew is now nearly or quite extinct. Although formerly abundant, its occurrence in both North and South America has been so frequently confused with Numenius hudsonicus, that it is extremely difficult to establish its migration range. Like the golden plover, however, this species followed an elliptical route, usually passing south in the fall off the coast of the United States, the point of departure from the mainland being the coast of Labrador, Nova Scotia, or (more rarely) Long Island, New York. In spring the return trip was made up the Mississippi Valley and the prairie States at which season it was practically unknown on the Atlantic coast.

Breeding range.—The only known nests and eggs of the Eskimo curlew have been obtained in northwestern Canada, Fort Anderson, Rendezvous Lake, Franklin Bay, and Point Lake.

Winter range.—The northern limits of the winter range are not known, but probably extended rarely to Brazil (Ypanema). South to Uruguay (Montevideo); Argentina (Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Concepcion, and the Chupat Valley); and Chile (Island of Chiloe, and Paposo). It also has been detected on the Falkland Islands (Abbott, 1861).

Spring migration.—Early dates of spring arrival in North America are: Texas, Gainesville, March 7, and Boerne, March 9; Arkansas, Fayetteville, March 31; Missouri, St. Louis, April 10, and Vernon County, April 16; Kansas, Emporia, April 13; Nebraska, Alda, April 2; Iowa, Burlington, April 5, and Grinnell, April 10; South Dakota, Brown County, April 16, and Mackenzie, Fort Resolution, May 26, and Fort Anderson, May 27.

A specimen of this species was taken at San Geronimo, Guatemala, in April; and one at Lake Palomas, Chihuahua, April 8, 1892. A specimen was taken at Chalmers, Ind., on April 19, 1890. In Massachusetts one was obtained at Cape Cod in May, 1873, and about 50 were reported near the mouth of the Rowley River, May 17, 1916. Spring arrivals also have been noted in Alaska, St. Michael, May 12, 1878, and Cape Lisbourne, May 25, 1886.

Late dates of spring departure are: Argentina, Concepcion, March 1; Texas, Long Point, April 23, and Fort Stockton, May 4; Missouri, Jasper County, May 1; Kansas, Lawrence, May 6; and South Dakota, Vermilion, May 3, and Harrison, May 10.

Fall migration.—Early dates of fall arrival are: Quebec, Bras d’Or, July 29, Caribou Island, August 12, and Indian Tickle, August 16; Massachusetts, Nantucket, August 18, and Edgartown, August 21; West Indies, Barbados, August 27, Carriacou, September 5, and Grenada, September 22; Brazil, Amazon River, September 4; and Argentina, Concepcion, September 9.

Late dates of fall departure are: Mackenzie, Fort Anderson, August 2; Quebec, Koksoak River, September 4, Montreal, September 7, and Magdalen Islands, September 20; New Brunswick, Tabusintac, September 8; Prince Edward Island, New London, September 1; Maine, Hog Island, September 2, and Pine Point, September 23; Massachusetts, East Orleans, September 5, Monomoy Island, September 10, and Nantucket, October 2; Connecticut, Saybrook, October 13; New York, Lockport, October 2; and West Indies, Barbados, November 4.

There are a few records in the interior for this season, among which are: Ontario, Wolf Island, October 10, 1873; Pennsylvania, Erie, September 17, 1889; Ohio, Cincinnati, September, 1878; Michigan, Kalamazoo, October 28, 1879; Illinois, Summit, August 11, 1872; and Wisconsin, Fox Lake, September 10, 1912.

Casual records.—The Eskimo curlew has been taken or reported from several points outside its normal range, among which are: Porto Rico, once near San Juan (Gundlach); Bermuda, September, 1874; Greenland, two records (Reinhardt); Pribilof Islands, St. Paul Island, May 26, 1872; “Bering Sea,” May 22, 1874; Siberia, Cape Wankarem, August 6, 1881; five records for Great Britain (Slains, Aberdeenshire, September 28, 1878; near Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, September 6, 1855; one on the Alde, Aldeburgh, Suffolk; one at Woodbridge, Suffolk; and one purchased in the flesh at Dublin, October 21, 1870); and Iceland (Kjaerbölling). The supposed occurrence of this species in southern California (San Diego region and near Tia Juana) probably refers to N. hudsonicus, as does also the record for the Galapagos Islands (Charles Island) and South Carolina (Charleston).

Egg dates.—Mackenzie: 28 records, June 8 to July 12; 14 records, June 18 to 25.

NUMENIUS PHAEOPUS PHAEOPUS (Linnaeus)

WHIMBREL

Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain

HABITS

The latest and best authority on the birds of Greenland, E. Lehn Schiöler, writes that in all probability the whimbrel breeds on the southern part of the west coast of Greenland, perhaps generally in the south, but more especially in the southwest. The only other American record of this species is one from south of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, on May 25, 1906.

Spring.—The whimbrel arrives on the British coasts from about mid-April to June 12, but is very frequently noted during the first days of May, from which it derives one of its local names, the “May bird.” On migration it prefers to haunt the low-lying coast and the adjacent country, feeding on the mud flats and marshes. When on the wing they fly at a great height, but can be recognized by their clear seven-syllabled whistle, tetty, tetty, tetty, tet.

Courtship.—Practically nothing is recorded in the standard works on British ornithology on the courtship of this species, but some observations have been made both in Iceland and on the Shetlands. Reimschneider writes that in Iceland one hears its notes all through the long summer day and far into the night, a very long-drawn kwiu, uttered with inflated throat and scarcely opened bill. The nuptial song of the male is a long-drawn fluty trill, much slower and longer than the alarm note. The bird hardly rises above the ground, but flies with half opened bill for short distances, trilling, then makes quick and short wing strokes and slowly descends to earth again with extended wings, when the cry is again uttered. Bernard Hantzsch (1905) gives a fuller description, which, however, varies in some details. The male is perched on some hillock, from which with wide-opened bill he utters a rolling di-di-di. Now he is off, with his long feet trailing behind and head and neck outstretched. With short and very rapid wing strokes he rises high in the clear sky till almost out of sight, meanwhile uttering his soft fluty du-du-du, sometimes for minutes together. Then follows a slightly higher and quicker series of notes, ending with a beautiful, soft trill, louder and faster than that of the golden plover. He then descends spirally toward the nesting place, thence again starting on his upward flight. The female also trills, but the song flight is peculiar to the male.

Nesting.—The breeding grounds of the whimbrel are the vast expanses of moorland, overgrown with heather and mosses, which are characteristic of the Arctic tundra. The actual nest is a well-defined hollow among the heather or rough grass, scantily lined with a few bits of ling or dry grass and moss. Some nests contain hardly any material and are merely pressed down and hollowed by the bird. They do not nest as a rule close together and the breeding place is jealously guarded by the male who rises fearlessly to attack and drive off almost any bird which approaches within a 100 yards of the eggs. Even skuas are attacked in this way, but where they are numerous the whimbrel stands but a poor chance of rearing young. In the Shetlands the eggs are laid in the last days of May and early in June, while in Iceland the normal time is at the beginning of June and exceptionally late in May.

Eggs.—These are normally four in number, exceptionally three only, especially in late layings, and Hantzsch (1905) records one clutch of five. They are pyriform, and large for the size of the birds, with thin shells. The ground color varies as a rule from pale olive green to pale brownish buff, blotched and spotted with olive brown or reddish brown and with ashy grey shell markings. In some varieties the ground is a beautiful clear green and the blotches very bold and conspicuous, while another scarce type has a bluish grey ground with only large brownish ash blotches. The measurements of 100 eggs, by Doctor Rey and the writer, average 58.9 by 41.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 65.1 by 41.7, 57 by 44, 52 by 41.6 and 55.3 by 36 millimeters.

Young.—Both sexes have incubation patches and from Chislett’s (1923) observations, confirmed also by Hantzsch, both share in the work. The only note we have as to the length of the period is that of Hantzsch (1905) who gives it as three to three and one-half weeks. In the case of a nest watched by Chislett the first two young hatched were led away by one bird while the other continued to incubate. This was on June 23 and the following day was cold with a high wind. The third chick wandered from the nest and was sometimes brooded by the incubating bird, which left the fourth egg for that purpose, but she never seemed thoroughly at ease except when covering both egg and chick. By the following morning the last chick had hatched out. Only one brood is reared in the season.

Plumages.—The plumages and molts are fully described in A Practical Handbook of British Birds edited by H. S. Witherby (1920).

Food.—This species feeds largely on earthworms, and also during the winter months on sandworms (Arenicola). Insects are also freely taken, chiefly beetles (Coleoptera), but also Orthoptera, especially earwigs (Forficula) and crickets (Acheta), larvae of flies (Diptera) etc. During the breeding season many small land mollusca are eaten, especially snails (Helix ericetorum), slugs (Limax agrestris), etc., and in the autumn, marine mollusca, both univalves and bivalves. Small Crustacea, including small crabs, shrimps (Crangon) and Gammaridae are also freely taken and the berries of moorland plants such as Empetrum nigrum (crowberry) and Vacinium myrtillus.

Behavior.—The boldness of this species in defending its nest has already been referred to. It has been frequently seen to attack and drive off birds much larger and more powerful than itself, such as the raven and the larger gulls. During the winter months it appears to be less of a shore feeder than the curlew, frequently visiting the inland marshes in preference to the mud flats and shores. Chislett (1923) describes its gait as quite different to that of the curlew, its progress being much more rapid and direct. Instead of approaching the nest in a leisurely way with many detours and pauses, it walks with rapid, jerky strides, almost directly to its objective.

Enemies.—The large gulls and skuas, though often successfully driven off when approaching singly, are often successful in destroying the eggs or young where present in numbers and the enormous increase in the numbers of the great skua in the Shetlands has proved very detrimental to this species. In Iceland the Arctic fox is also an enemy to be counted with and the crow tribe (raven and hooded crow) are always ready to take advantage of any chance opportunity.

Fall.—The young are fledged according to Hantzsch (1905) within a month of hatching and about the beginning of August begin to collect into flocks which increase in size daily. In the second half of August he records great flocks of over a hundred birds which leave the island about the middle of September. The latest date on which Jönsson records them on the Westmann Isles is October 10.

Winter.—Exceptionally, small parties remain in Iceland during the winter. Thus in the winter of 1899–1900 they were noticed by many observers over Hjalteyri and the adjacent district. On the other hand, many individuals remain all the year round in their winter quarters, keeping together in small parties and evidently non-breeding birds.

DISTRIBUTION

Breeding range.—In the British Isles, very sparingly and almost exterminated on certain islands in the Shetland group. A few pairs are said to have bred at various localities on the mainland, chiefly in the north of Scotland and perhaps also on some of the outlying isles. Breeds freely on the Faroes and Iceland and probably in southwest Greenland. On the continent and northern Scandinavia and Finland and in North Russia, south to Kanzan, Samara, Ufa, Perm, and Orenburg; also in West Siberia at least to Tara and Tobolsk, but in East Siberia replaced by N. ph. variegatus. Possibly also breeds in Russia in Voronezh, Kief, and the middle Urals, but proof still lacking.

Winter range.—Passes through Europe and western Asia to the coasts of Africa south to Cape Province, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Comoro Isles, Aldabra, and Mauritius. In Asia to Arabia, passing through Iraq to West India, south to Ceylon and the Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Spring migration.—The average date of arrival of the migrating flocks at the Faroes is given as mid April, while in Iceland they arrive about the end of April or early in May; at the Westmann Isles on the south coast the earliest and latest dates are given as April 20 and May 5 by Jönsson.

Fall migration.—The departure from Iceland begins about mid September, on the Westmann Isles between September 20 and October 10 (Jönsson), while the Faroes are abandoned by September 29 (exceptionally as late as October 3).

Casual records.—It has occurred several times on Jan Meyen, once Bear Island (June 14, 1898), several times on Spitsbergen, and also on Kolguev. In the Atlantic it occurs on the Canaries, Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands. A specimen came on board a steamer in the vicinity of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, on May 23, 1906 (Latitude 43° north, Longitude 60° west); and one was obtained at Gilgo Inlet, Great South Bay, Long Island, N. Y., on September 4, 1912.

Eggs dates.—In Scotland, May 19 to June 11 (13 dates); Faroes, June 4 to 24 (34 dates), May 25 (1 date); Iceland, June 4 to 23 (22 dates).

NUMENIUS TAHITIENSIS (Gmelin)

BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEW

HABITS

Although this species has been recognized for over 140 years, surprisingly little has been learned or published about it. It was discovered by Latham in 1785 from Tahiti, the largest of the Society Islands, hence the specific name given by Gmelin in 1788, Scolopax tahitiensis. But the credit is due to Peale for discovering the most peculiar character of the species, the elongated shafts of some of the flank feathers which are lacking in barbs and from which we derive the name, “bristle-thighed.”

It was long supposed to be a bird of the South Pacific islands and the first birds captured in Alaska were regarded as accidental stragglers. During the last century there were only three published North American records, all for Alaska; the first specimen was taken by Bischoff on May 18, 1869, on the Kenai Peninsula, the second by Nelson on May 24, 1880, at St. Michael, and the third by Townsend on August 28, 1885, on the Kowak River. Since then it has been found to be a fairly common fall migrant in Alaska and it probably breeds somewhere in the interior of that territory.

Spring.—Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) gives the following account of the capture of his bird:

On May 24, 1880, while I was shooting black brant, a pair of these birds settled near by on a rising stretch of land covered with large tussocks. They uttered a loud whistling call note very much like that of hudsonicus, but something in their general appearance led me to stalk and secure one of the birds. To my gratification it was a bristle-thighed curlew, and I made great efforts to secure the mate, which had stopped a hundred yards or so beyond. As she raised on my approach I fired at long range and the bird fell mortally hurt on a distant hillside, where it was lost amid a host of large tussocks.

Bischoff’s bird was taken on May 18; and H. B. Conover (1926) collected one at Hooper Bay on May 22, 1924. These three dates, only six days apart, probably indicate the normal time of arrival of birds of this species in Alaska after their long flight over the Pacific Ocean from the Hawaiian Islands, the nearest of their winter resorts. This is a really wonderful flight and it is surprising that we have no evidence to indicate that they deviate from their direct course at all, as we have no records of any specimens from any point to the westward or to the southward of the Alaska Peninsula. The species is comparatively scarce on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska, from which we might infer that an overland flight is made from the vicinity of the Kenai Peninsula to the breeding grounds somewhere in the northern interior of Alaska.

Summer.—The breeding grounds and the nesting habits of the bristle-thighed curlew are entirely unknown, an interesting problem for some enterprising ornithologist to work out. Mr. Conover (1926) suggests that “the main breeding ground is probably above the timber line on some of the mountain ranges” of Alaska. Herbert W. Brandt says in his notes:

From the native information I was able to gather I believe that these birds may breed at the eastern end of the Askinuk Mountains, or in the Kusilvak Mountains and perhaps the mountains to the northward of Mountain Village on the Yukon River. Their early loitering appearance at Hooper Bay so shortly after nesting makes it entirely unlikely that they had traveled very far, but it seems rather strange that we did not encounter them in their spring migration and further it is apparently doubtful that they should enter the Bering Sea coast territory by following down either the Yukon or the Kuskoquim River valleys.

Dr. Charles H. Townsend shot a specimen of this curlew at Kotzebue Sound (Kobuk River) on August 25; it was a young bird which had evidently recently come from its breeding grounds. We saw none of this species about Nome in July; but after I left, Rollo H. Beck, a member of our expedition, collected quite a series of them in August. Two of his birds, now in my collection, were taken at Cape Nome on August 24, 1911. Mr. Conover (1926) writes:

By the end of July we had entered the Kashunuk Slough and traveled down it until we were about 20 miles from where it enters Hooper Bay. At this place was an Eskimo village where we stopped for a few days to have a goose drive; and it was here that we saw the bristle-thighed curlew in abundance. On July 31 a pair was seen and collected, and on August 3 one more was taken. August 4 was the big day, as several hundred of these birds were seen on the tundra feeding on blueberries. About a dozen were taken by our party, and I personally believe I saw over a hundred, while another member of the expedition, who was off in another direction, estimated that he saw three times as many. All the specimens taken were old birds.

The above facts would seem to indicate that the main breeding grounds are somewhere in the interior of extreme northern Alaska, probably on the barren grounds; that the spring migration is well inland; and that there is a heavy fall migration along the Bering Sea coast. The eggs and downy young are entirely unknown and there are not enough specimens available to work out the molts and plumages, which probably correspond to those of closely related species.

Food.—Probably the feeding habits of this curlew are not very different from those of the Hudsonian curlew, but the only food mentioned by observers consists of berries. Birds collected in Alaska were feeding on blueberries. They are said to feed on Canthium berries in the Hawaiian Islands; and birds shot on Midway Island by Dr. Paul Bartsch (1922) were “crammed full of Scaevola berries.”

Behavior.—Doctor Bartsch (1922) found this bird “quite abundant on both” Midway Islands in November, “where in company with the golden plover it frequents all parts of the island excepting those covered by brush. These birds were quite tame as well as curious and when flushed would frequently fly about us, emitting their peculiar cry.”

Dill and Bryan (1912) reported about 250 on Laysan Island in the spring; they say:

Just before sunset and early in the morning the bristle-thighed curlews would come up around our camp uttering their peculiar complaining notes. They roosted on the roofs of the old buildings at night, sometimes as many as 20 birds in one flock. We saw them feeding on different parts of the island but usually about the lagoon or along the beaches.

Donald R. Dickey photographed a bristle-thighed curlew on Laysan Island in the act of robbing a nest of the man-o-war bird, of which he tells me:

This was not a sporadic bit of deviltry engaged in by one perverted individual. Instead, it was characteristic of most, if not all, of the curlews present on Laysan at the time we were there. In other words, they indulged in organized banditry, working about the island in troupes accompanied by numbers of turnstones and an occasional golden plover which were partners in crime with the curlew. The turnstones jammed their bills straight into the lighter-shelled eggs, but the curlew, frequently at least, got access to the contents of the larger eggs by raising them in their bills and then dropping them back on the hard sand until they broke. They can pick up and run away with an egg up to the size of a man-o-war bird’s egg. In the case of the latter, the more dexterous birds seized the egg and held it endwise in the bill. It seems difficult for them to pick it up otherwise.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore has sent me the following notes on this subject:

That a bird of the shore-bird family should destroy eggs may seem almost unbelievable in view of the habits ordinary in this group, yet in work in the Hawaiian Bird Reservation in 1923 we found the bristle-thighed curlew, as well as the turnstone, making regular practice of eating the eggs of the birds nesting on these distant islands. The sooty and gray-backed terns were the greatest sufferers, as the curlew drove their long bills through the eggs with ease, or seized them in their long mandibles to carry them away and eat them at their leisure. On close observation we found that curlews attacked the eggs of all birds indiscriminately, even pulling an egg from beneath a frigate bird when the incubating bird raised on the nest for a moment, the theft being committed so adroitly that the egg seemingly was not missed. Mr. Donald Dickey in his motion pictures succeeded in filming a spirited scene in which a bristle-thighed curlew after a number of attempts accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of carrying away a frigate bird’s egg held firmly between its mandibles, while a group of apparently admiring turnstones, robbers themselves but incapable of such herculean acts of banditry, scurried about in the background. On another occasion a curlew flew up to a red-footed booby’s nest in a bush several feet from the ground in the temporary absence of the owner, impaled the egg, and dragged it away to be devoured. The booby was still brooding disconsolately in her empty nest two days later. On another day a curlew deliberately opened an old albatross egg found in the sand and ate eagerly from the putrid interior. As this egg had been lying unprotected from the sun for at least four months previous, its condition may be imagined, yet the bird returned avidly again and again to continue its horrid repast though I approached within 10 feet.

Voice.—Mr. Conover (1926) says:

The call and appearance of this species are entirely different from that of the Hudsonian curlew. The latter gives a very short whistling call, which is roughly as follows: Whe-whe-whe-whe. The former, on the other hand, has a call very similar to one of the black-bellied plover and sounds something like wheeeu-whu. In appearance the bristle-thigh is tawnier above and has a very reddish-brown unbarred rump, which is a very good field mark.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—Alaska and islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Breeding range.—Unknown, but considered probable in northern or northwestern Alaska.

The bristle-thighed curlew does not seem to be abundant and consequently has been under observation at comparatively few points. Specimens have been observed or taken in summer in Alaska at Kotzebue Sound, Hooper Bay, Kobuk River, Lopp Lagoon, and Mint River. One also was taken on St. George Island, of the Pribilof group, on May 26, 1917.

Winter range.—During the winter they are found north to the Hawaiian Islands (Lisiansky, Laysan, French Frigate Shoal, Bird Island, and Hawaii); east to Hawaii, Palmyra Island, Fanning Island, Christmas Island, Marquesas Islands, Society Islands (Tahiti), and the Paumotu Archipelago (Vincennes Island); south to the Low or Paumotu Archipelago (Vincennes Island), Cook Islands (Palmerston Island), and probably New Caledonia; west to probably New Caledonia, Phoenix Islands (Canton and Phoenix Island), Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands (Jaluit Island), and the Hawaiian Islands (Lisiansky Island).

Migration.—Early dates of arrival for bristle-thighed curlews in Alaska are: Fort Kenai, May 18, 1869; Nome River, May 23, 1905; and Cape Mountain, May 28, 1922.

They have been detected in the Kotzebue Sound region as late as August 26, 1885.