This is the eighth in a
series of bulletins of the
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
on the LIFE HISTORIES
OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
by ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT.
Order Limicolae. Family Scolopacidae. . . . Numenius borealis, Eskimo curlew. . . .
Excessive shooting on its migrations and in its winter home in South America was doubtless one of the chief causes of its destruction. . . . I cannot believe that it was overtaken by any great catastrophe at sea which could annihilate it; it was strong of wing and could escape from or avoid severe storms; and its migration period was so extended that no one storm could wipe it out. There is no evidence of disease or failure of food supply. No, there was only one cause, slaughter by human beings, slaughter in Labrador and New England in summer and fall, slaughter in South America in winter, and slaughter, worst of all, from Texas to Canada in the spring. They were so confiding, so full of sympathy for their fallen companions, that in closely packed ranks they fell, easy victims of the carnage. The gentle birds ran the gantlet all along the line and no one lifted a finger to protect them until it was too late. . . .