Part 46

a1. Culmen, 115 mm. or more; crown uniform in color with the back.

b1. Lower back and rump white or with streaks and spots of black; axillars pure white or with traces of dusky lines. ... arquatus (p. 115) b2. Lower back and rump brown; axillars white, broadly barred with blackish. ... cyanopus (p. 116)

a2. Culmen, 90 mm. or less; crown blackish with a pale or whitish central vertical band. ... variegatus (p. 117)

99. NUMENIUS ARQUATUS (Linnæus).

COMMON CURLEW.

Scolopax arquata Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 145. Numenius arquatus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 341; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 36. Numenius arquata Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 157; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 252, fig. 58 (head); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 24.

Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Whitehead). India and Africa; Europe east to Lake Baikal, in winter to southern China and Malay Peninsula.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Above brown, with longitudinal black centers to the feathers imparting a broadly striped appearance; feathers of upper surface notched with ashy or rufous, giving to many of the scapulars a somewhat barred appearance; wing-coverts dark brown, edged with whity brown, median and greater series also checkered with whity brown, imparting a somewhat barred appearance to this part of the wing; alula, primary-coverts, and primaries blackish, externally glossed with bottle-green; primary-coverts slightly tipped with white, shafts of outer primaries white, those of inner ones brown, primaries notched or barred, on inner web only, with sandy buff or whitish, inner primaries thus marked on both webs; secondaries distinctly barred with brown and white, both webs being deeply notched with ashy whitish; innermost secondaries ashy brown with dusky brown cross-bars, the center of the feathers being also dusky brown; lower back and rump pure white with black longitudinal spots or streaks, a little more distinct on the rump; upper tail-coverts barred with black and white or with sagittate subterminal spots, the longer ones tinged with sandy buff, giving a streaked appearance; neck more ashy, streaked with brown; over the eye a white streak, narrowly lined with black; sides of face and sides of neck, throat, and chest pale sandy buff streaked with blackish brown, more narrowly on the sides of face; chin and upper throat white; breast, abdomen, sides of body, thighs, and under tail-coverts white, streaked with dark brown on breast, and very narrowly on abdomen and under tail-coverts; thighs unstreaked; sides of body with distinct bars or sagittate markings of dark brown; under wing-coverts and axillars pure white, mottled with blackish centers to the feathers; axillars more or less regularly barred with blackish or with subterminal, heart-shaped spots; lower primary-coverts and quills below ashy gray with white notches to the inner webs. 'Bill fleshy brown, shading into dark brown toward the tip; feet dusky; iris brown.' (Shelley.) Length, 533; culmen, 121; wing, 279; tail, 108; tarsus, 74.

"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Similar to the male, but larger, and with a longer bill. Length, 610; culmen, 155; wing, 305; tail, 145; tarsus, 81.

"Adults in winter plumage.--Very similar to the breeding plumage, but paler, and much less heavily striped, especially on the under surface of the body; the black spots and streaks on the rump scarcely apparent, and concealed by the white plumage; upper tail-coverts white, with very few brown cross-bars; tail white, barred with brown. 'Feet pale leaden gray, claws blackish; bill blackish brown, flesh-color at the base of the lower mandible.' (Hume.)

"There is evidently a spring molt, but whether partial or entire I have not been able to determine. The breeding plumage is gained by a widening of the longitudinal centers to the feathers, of which the pattern changes on several portions of the body. Such parts as the rump and the abdomen and under tail-coverts have scarcely any visible streaks, but these appear with the summer plumage and are gained by a change of the feather. The sides of the body change from a streaked to a barred appearance, this being effected by a preliminary widening of the brown centers to the feathers which develop into bars without any direct molt. The innermost secondaries, at the autumn molt, seem to be entirely uniform, and the bars make their appearance gradually.

"Young.--Differs from the adult in being much more tawny, and, as Seebohm has pointed out, young birds may always be distinguished from the old ones by the much lighter patterns of the notches and bars in the innermost secondaries, these markings being tawny buff, and the black centers to the feathers being much broader." (Sharpe.)

This large curlew is extremely wary and although individuals are occasionally seen on tide-flats, they are difficult to kill.

100. NUMENIUS CYANOPUS Vieillot.

ASIATIC CURLEW.

Numenius cyanopus Vieillot, N. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. (1817), 8, 306; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 350; Hand-List (1899), 1, 158; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 24.

Bohol (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester). Japan and eastern Siberia, in winter to Australia.

"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Similar to N. arquatus and of the same size, but distinguished by the dark lower back and rump and the regular barring of axillars and under wing-coverts. General appearance more fulvous; under surface tinged with vinous-buff all over; lower back and rump sandy buff with blackish brown centers to the feathers, thus greatly resembling the rest of back; upper tail-coverts barred with blackish brown and sandy buff or white. 'Bill black, flesh-colored at base of lower mandible; feet bluish gray; iris dark brown.' (Taczanowski.) Length, 610; culmen, 183; wing, 318; tail, 117; tarsus, 88.

"Adult male.--In this species the difference in size between the sexes is not so apparent as in some of the allied ones. Length, 533; culmen, 173; wing, 302; tail, 109; tarsus, 81.

"Young.--Much more tawny than the adults and having tawny-buff bars or notches on the innermost secondaries; the streaks on the under surface very fine and narrow.

"Adults in winter plumage do not differ very much from the summer plumage, but the under surface is much less distinctly streaked; the upper surface is very similar at both times of the year." (Sharpe.)

This curlew like the next preceding is a large bird and usually, singly or in pairs, is found feeding on flats exposed at low tide.

101. NUMENIUS VARIEGATUS (Scopoli).

EASTERN WHIMBREL.

Tantalus variegatus Scopoli, Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786), 2, 92. Numenius variegatus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 361; Hand-List (1899), 1, 158; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 24.

Ta-ling'-ting, Cagayancillo.

Bantayan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Cebu (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (Meyer); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot); Malanipa (Murray); Mindanao (Platen, Goodfellow); Negros (Steere Exp., Keay); Palawan (Whitehead); Panay (Steere Exp.); Samar (Sanchez); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor) . Japan and eastern Siberia, in winter southern China to Australia.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Above nearly uniform dark brown, excepting for the broad, ashy brown markings on mantle and upper back; wing-coverts like back, but margins paler and more whitish, greater series with whitish notches on both webs; alula and primary-coverts dark brown, fringed with white at the ends; primaries blackish brown, notched with white on inner webs, which have a barred appearance along the edge; inner primaries notched with white on both webs; secondaries brown, notched on outer webs and barred on inner; innermost secondaries nearly uniform with the back; shaft of outer primary white, of second whity brown, and of the rest pale brown; lower back and rump white, very thickly mottled with spots and bars of brown; upper tail-coverts barred with brown and whitish, the brown bars somewhat irregular and not coterminous; tail ashy brown, tipped with white, and crossed by regular bars of dark brown, about nine in number; center of crown whitish and streaked with brown, remainder of crown dark brown, forming two broad bands and followed by a broad eyebrow of dull white and narrowly streaked with small lines of blackish; lores and upper margins of ear-coverts dark brown; remainder of sides of face and neck pale brown, streaked with darker brown, cheeks somewhat whiter; chin and upper throat white, with scarcely any brown spots; lower throat, breast, and sides of body pale, rufescent buff, thickly clouded with longitudinal streaks of dark brown on throat and breast; dark brown bars of a more or less sagittate shape on sides of body and flanks; abdomen and under tail-coverts white, the latter with streaks and bars of dark brown; under wing-coverts and axillars white with broad dusky brown bars, very distinct on the latter. 'Bill blackish, dark brown at base of lower mandible; feet dark lead-color; claws black; iris very dark brown.' (Taczanowski.) Length, 380; culmen, 76; wing, 223; tail, 96; tarsus, 55.