Hudsonian Curlew

Hudsonian Curlew [now Whimbrel]
Numenius hudsonicus, Latham [now Numenius phaeopus]
Octavo edition, plate 356

"Their appearance on these occasions is very interesting: they collect together from the marshes as if by premeditated design, rise to a great height in the air, usually an hour before sunset, and, forming in one vast line, keep up a constant whistling on their way to the north, as if conversing with one another to render the journey more agreeable. Their flight is then more slow and regular, that the feeblest may keep up with the line of march; while the glittering of their beautifully speckled wings, sparkling in the sun, produces altogether a very pleasing spectacle."

John James Audubon, Birds of America (New York: J.J. Audubon; Philadelphia: J. B. Chevalier, 1840-1844), vol. 6, p. 43.

View bird in National Audubon Society Field Guide for North American Birds.

A specimen of this species, collected by Audubon, is housed within the collections of the Natural History Museum in London.