requires but an indifferent shot to bring them down. We have killed these Fowls often when in pursuit of other Coast Birds, on the marshes about Cape May and Cape Henlopen, but never thought it worth while to go a foot out of our way to procure them, as they are at the best but an unsavory dish for the table; and we trust that we have never encouraged a disposition to take animal life from the mere love of destruction, or perhaps to gratify a morbid taste to make a great display by the magnitude of our game-bag.

DESCRIPTION.

"The Clapper Rail measures fourteen inches in length, and eighteen in extent; the bill is two inches and a quarter long, slightly bent, pointed, grooved, and of a reddish-brown color; iris of the eye dark red; nostril oblong, pervious; crown, neck, and back black, streaked with dingy brown; chin and line over the eye brownish-white; auricular dusky; neck before, and whole breast, of the same red-brown as that of the preceding species; wing coverts dark chestnut; quill feathers plain dusky; legs reddish-brown; flanks and vent black tipped, or barred with white. The males and females are nearly alike.

"The young Birds of the first year have the upper parts of an olive brown, streaked with pale slate; wings pale brown olive; chin and part of the throat white; breast ash color, tinged with brown; legs and feet a pale horn color."

ESQUIMAUX CURLEW, OR SHORT-BILLED CURLEW. SCOLOPAX BOREALIS.

"Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore,

His dun-gray plumage floating to the gale,

The Curlew blends his melancholy wail

With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour."

NOMENCLATURE AND DESCRIPTION.

THIS large and handsome bird is known to our shooters as the Jack Curlew, or Short-Billed Curlew, in contradistinction to the other variety, the Numenius Longerostris, or LongBilled Curlew.

"The Esquimaux Curlew is eighteen inches long, and thirtytwo inches in extent; the bill, which is four inches and a half long, is black towards the point; and a pale purplish flesh color near the base; upper part of the head dark brown; divided by a narrow stripe of brownish-white; over each eye extends a broad line of pale drab; iris dark-colored; hind part of the neck streaked with dark brown; forepart and whole

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breast very pale brown; upper part of the body pale drab, centered and barred with dark brown and edged with spots of white on the exterior vanes; three primaries black, with white shafts; rump and tail coverts barred with dark brown; belly white, vent the same, marked with zigzag lines of brown on a dark cream ground; legs and naked thighs a pale lead color."

This Bird, like most others of our Sea-fowl, is migratory, arriving in the Middle States from the South early in the spring, and remaining a short time, feeding on the mud flats and salt marshes, in company with various others of the feathered race. After this, they take up their line of march for the far North, where they spend the summer in breeding and rearing their young. The Short-Billed Curlews travel in large bodies, and keep up a constant whistling during their journeys. It is possible that some few remain the whole summer through in the marshes about Cape May, for the purposes of incubation; such, indeed, is the opinion of those employed in shooting these Birds for the markets. We have often met with them in the neighborhood of Cape May carly in July.

During the breeding season, Curlews collect in immense numbers on the Labrador coast, where they remain till the months of August and September, and then leave in large companies for the South. During these months, and until the commencement of cold weather, Curlews are very numerous on the coast of New Jersey and Long Island, frequenting the salt marshes and flats, where they find abundance of food, such as marine worms, shell-fish, and various species of aquatic insects, all of which they partake of greedily. On these mud flats, where numberless varieties of Sea-birds collect, are great quantities of a particular kind of shell, or craw fish, vulgarly called fiddlers, upon which the larger fowls prey and soon become fat. This dainty food, however, though very nutritious and excellent, does not improve the flavor of the Bird, as their meat soon becomes coarse and sedgy after their arrival among us. In the North, they keep more to the open grounds of the interior, and consequently feed chiefly on seeds, insects, and berries. Their flesh at such times is pronounced delicious, and even delicate. We have shot them within a few days after their arrival among us from the North, and always found them more

palatable than at any other time. When these Birds associate with Field Plovers, and frequent the meadow lands, their flesh is quite passable, and even sometimes quite delicate; but it is not often that they are found in such good company. Curlews are very shy, and require much caution to approach. They fly with great rapidity when frightened, and require a good blow to bring them down. There are many ways of shooting this Bird; the favorite plan is rowing through the inlets and guts in a boat, and killing them as they fly backward and forward to their different feeding-grounds; or coming upon them by stealth, when, unsuspicious of danger, they are socially feeding in company with other waders, on the insects and shell-fish that they find on the bars and points along the creeks. Great caution, silence, and a considerable degree of manoeuvring are necessary to follow this sport with much success, as these Birds are extremely shy, and easily put to flight. When approaching them, keep near to the shore, and also under cover of the land; it will also be frequently necessary to get out of the boat, and make a long detour, so as to get in the rear of the Birds; we have often obtained a raking shot at beach fowl in this way.

If one be wounded, he should be made use of as a decoy for others, as they are very kindly in their feelings, and show a great desire always to assist a distressed companion, whom they will fly around for a considerable time, and thus offer many opportunities to kill several before leaving the spot. For all kinds of Coast Birds when shooting from a boat, it is best to have a gun in reserve, as the most of them are enticed within reach by the cries of a winged bird, and the second volley in such cases is oftentimes the most destructive.

The great mistake that our city Shooters make in pursuing coast Birds is in the size of the guns that they make use of. Partridge guns are not suitable for this kind of sport; neither are the full Duck guns the proper weapon. A medium size gun is the proper instrument: it should not be too light, however, but forged to throw the shot at long distances, and then they would be surprised to see the difference it would make in the count of one day's sport. When going along the inlets in a boat, keep a bright look-out on the marshes adjoining the

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stream, and you will often discover two or three suspiciouslooking heads peering up from among the high grass, within a short distance of the banks, and which will offer an easy shot to the marksman. We have obtained many a good shot in this way, which otherwise would have been passed by. This Bird is not the same with the Scolopax Phaepus, or Whimbrel of England, as originally supposed, but proves to be an entirely distinct species.