Numenius arquata of Europe is distinguished by its head, not
parted by: the central line, its large size, long arched bill,
white im p , white under wing-coverts and axillary feathers : its
American analogue, whose still longer bill has gained for it. the.
name of longirostris, has the croupe of the same dark colour , as
the body, with the under wing-coverts, &c, rust-coloured. The
phaeopus of Europe, and hudsonicus of North America, similar
in colour and stature, and each ornamented, with the medial
coronal Rne, are in like manner distinguishable, the former by
the white, the other by the dark coloured croupe; and by the
under coverts, in the European white banded with black, whilst
in the American they arc banded with black and rusty.
The two smallest, the present American species, and the N,
tenuirostris of Europe, though less completely analogqus, are nevertheless
both destitute of the coronal lin e : the present has ti\,q
rump dark, and the under wing-covcrts banded witii black and
rusty; while the slender-billed has them pure white, as well as Abe.
rumf>, and ground of the tail-feathers. The diminutive size of
the Esquimaux Curlew will certainly prevent its being confounded
with the giganticvV. longirostris, especially as its bill is remarkably
short,, and but little arcuated.
The reader will here have already remarked; we are confident,
the curious fact, that all the European species of JVumenius have
white rumps and white under wing-coverts ;. whilst the American
all have the former uniform in colour with the remainder of the
plumage, and the latter rust-eoloured.
. ;The true Esquimaux^C^lew, (kb suy the true, for it is neither
the1 Esquimaux. Curlew of Wilson nor of the Arctic Zoology,) is
one of the four species that are destitute of the medial coronal
line. It is easily known from the large species by its diminutive
size*, from the small ones by wanting the white rump, from all
by its very short bill.
It is but half the size of thé^speciea that has usurped its napm*
bf Bkm-êïéed, .being hardly fourteen ihehes itf lihgth, and twenty-.
four in ’breadth. • J Tbeflpjl’I "is no more than two1 and a half inches-“
long, but Mttle archedj remarkably Slender, blackish, the loWefr
mandible rufous at base: thé head i's pale, with > longitbdinial
lines Of brown i the ' -
although there« is no medial line, ii'tis É somewhat' indicated by
yellowish marks on that part; th e* ëyCbr@ws and chin are whitish:
the neck, -breast, belly and- ven£ a’pe- rufous-white, the two -first
dashed with brown streams and arrowheads, aüd ;-a? feit* slender •
streaks on the vent: the feathered parts of the thighs- are rufbus-
White, spotted with rufous,
transversely fasciatcd with brown: the back is ©f a’deep browp, the
feathers margined with yeHthidsh-grayiin a" serrated manner, and
&he croupé is uniform with the rest: The wings a-rè long,.reaching ,
much hèyond the tail; they are brown; the shafts^of-«the prime
quills are white; the-secondaries' and« lesfeer-'eovert-s margined
with grays, the lower coverts, as well as the Itfbg' axillary feathers,
are ferruginous banded with ^rown t the rump tes fhe
feathers edged- and spotted with whitish; The tail is short,
brown-ash crossed with darker bands, and slightly •edged With
whitish. The legs are bluish b lack;» the tarsus is1 one and
three-quarter inches 1‘ong. The female similar to the
male, except a very little infèrèpriiy m^feëv
This exclusively American bird is w itó y spread throughout
both sections of the new continent, being traced from the fens
of Hudson’s Bay in the extreme northj to tteè warm climates of
Brasil, Mopte Video, and Paragüay, A !cfecumstanG© W'W'@!b' 'how-
ever recently observed, or extraordinaTy, is cÉtCn repeated with
the Waders-, that are peculiar th-America. dfe
that in'Paraguay lljjë species makes its; passage in the month df
September, and keeps, in the open champaigns, either wet oP dry;
VOL. iv .— 1 1