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Home , American golden plover, Curlew, Eskimo curlew

The decline and fall of the Eskimo , or did the curlew go extaille?

by Richard C. Banks

66Thereis no need to look for a probable bush (1912) and Swenk (1916) seems over- incause for the extermination of the whelming,and there can be little reasonable -- the causeis painfully doubtthat overkill was an importantfactor in apparent.... The destructionof this was the demiseof the curlewand in the reductionof mainlydue to unrestrictedshooting, market populationsofother . Yet, the dogmatic huntingand shipment, particularly during the statementsquoted above suggest that any other spring migration in the United States" (For- factors that may have been involved were bush 1912:427). ignored,and indeed these authors barely men- tionedand quickly discarded other postulated &&One neednot look far to find the cause causes.This paper.will analyzethe circum- •Jwhich led to its destruction.... No, stancesof thedecline of the curlew, attempt to therewas only one cause, slaughter by human placeknown mortality factors into perspective, beings, slaughter in Labrador and New and speculatethat other factors unknown to Englandin summerand fall, slaughterin Forbushand Swenkwere significant in that SouthAmerica in winterand slaughter,worst decline. of all, from Texasto Canadain the spring" (Bent 1929:127). LIFE HISTORY

hewriting of the authorscited above, and What little waslearned about the biologyof similar conclusionsby Swenk(1916), have the EskimoCurlew before its populationwas led to generalacceptance of the conceptthat reducedvirtually to nil has been summarized excessiveshooting, particularly by market by Forbush(1912), Swenk(1916), Bent (1929), hunters, was the cause of the extationa of the and Greenway(1958). The speciesbred in the Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis, near the Arctic, mainly in the Mackenzie District of the end of the 19th century(Greenway 1958, Vin- Northwest Territories of , but also cent 1966, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and westwardand eastwardfor unknown distances, Wildlife1973). Bent (1929) had no important perhapsto the Alaskancoast and HudsonBay; •nformationthat had not beensummarized by the limits of the breedingrange were never Forbush (1912) and Swenk (1916), and in accuratelydetermined. In late July, essencemerely echoed the beliefsexpressed in begantheir migration,initially flying eastward their works. or southeastward to the coast of Labrador wherethey lingered for sometime feedingon Asconservationists writing before the advent berriesand accumulatinggreat fat reserves.In of effectivelegislation designed to protect Augustand Septembergreat flocks flew south- migratorybirds, both Forbush and particularly ward over the , across the Swenk seem to have been more interested in us- Antilles and to Patagonian ing the EskimoCurlew as a horribleexample Argentina, where they wintered. The flight of the excesses of market hunters and as a from Labradorto SouthAmerica was appar- primejustification for the needof protective ently without a landfall under favorable legislationthan in addressingthe biology of the weather conditions, but storms in the North species.Certainly the evidenceof exploitation Atlantic often forced an alteration of course of this and otherspecies, as compiledby For- resultingin flockslanding on the coastof New Englandor Bermuda. The American Golden ( dorninica)shared the fall migrationroute from •For use of "extaille" and "extation," see Banks the breedinggrounds to Labrador and on to 1976. SouthAmerica. Clark (1905),writing partic-

Volume 31, Number 2 127 ularly of the plover, noted that they were inite and confusing.The PassengerPigeon, usuallyobserved to fly on a beam wind, that is, Ectopistesmigratorius, seems to haveattracted perpendicularto the directionof the wind.He the most individual attention, and Forbush's relatedthis to the probabletrans-oceanic flight (1912) accountof that speciesincludes many course,indicating that flight from the Arctic referencesto writingsof the 1600sand 1700s. would lead the naturally to Labrador, During the 1800sthe fall flightsof hugeflocks and further flight across the prevailing of the Eskimo Curlew and the American westerhesor southwesterlieswould carry the Golden Plover after storms seem to have been birds past or near Bermuda,where somewere well known and eagerly anticipated by New known to stop. Further flight acrossthe pre- England gunners.It is difficult to believethat vmhng easterlytrade winds would swingthe this phenomenonwould have been overlooked birds back to a southerlythen southwesterly or unrecordedby the earlier writers, evenif the course and across northern South America, speciesinvolved were inadequately identified. whence the prevailing westerlieswould lead The apparent lack of mention of the huge them on to their winteringgrounds. flights of Eskimo Curlews along the north- The spring migration route is not well easterncoast prior to the 1800s, and the sug- known, but apparently took the birds across gestionthat this speciesdid occurin the 1700s the Andes, through , and over in the Carolinas(where they did not occur in the Gulf of Mexico to the Texas coast, whence the 1800s)leads to the speculationthat the the birds movedslowly northward through the migratory pattern of the curlewsor the pattern to the nestinggrounds. Passage of stormsthat forcedthem to the coastduring through the midwesternUnited States took their overwatermigration might have been place •n April, and the nestinggrounds were somewhat different in those two centuries. reached in May. The annual cycle of the Population levels. -- There is little in the Eskimo Curlew has been credibly, if dramat- literature that can lead to a firm estimate of the ically, fictionalizedby Bodsworth(1954). true original abundanceof the Eskimo Curlew. Early history. -- The Eskimo Curlew was Most of the commentsrelating the numbersof described in 1772, but there is at least one birds are subjective,and many may be exag- reference in the earlier literature that has been gerated by hindsight.Terms such as "vast associatedwith the species(Forbush 1912:417). numbers," "immense flocks," and "enormous In 1709 or earlier, John Lawson wrote of the numbers" were used to describe the abundance natural resources of Carolina, and noted that: of the birds in fall in eastern United States and "Of Curlews there are three sorts, and vast Canada.In Labrador,in 1833,arriving flocks numbersof each.They have all long bills, and were so densethat they remindedAudubon of differ neither in colournor shape,only in size. PassengerPigeons. Packard saw a flock a mile The largest is as big as a goodhen, the smaller long and nearly as broad, with an estimated the b•gnessof a , or somethingbigger" 4000 or 5000 birds, in 1860 (Townsend and (Lawson1966:147-8). The small speciesmust Allen 1907).This amountsto a densityof only have been N. borealis. In the 19th century, one bird per 400 squareyards, which seems however,the Eskimo Curlew seemsnot to have rather low. There are other reportsof "mil- occurredalong the southeasterncoast except as lions" of birds in Newfoundland and 6n the a straggler. Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence Forbush's (1912) earliest discussion of this (Forbush1912). Flocks in springmigration in speciesin the northeasternUnited Statesis for the plainsalso reminded settlers of Passenger the early 1800s;he states,"We know nothing Pigeonsand werereported to cover40-50 acres deftroteof their migrationsin the early daysof when they landed (Swenk1916) but at unstated the colony.... "The literatureof the periodof density. colomzation of includes a con- It is possiblethat the curlew'stendency to sadetablebody of information on the abun- gatherinto large flocksand its rather narrow danceof bird life, particularly of waterfowland migratorypath led to overestimatesof the total other game species.Forbush (1912) reviewed populationsize. One tacitlyassumes that there muchof this,pointing out that the descriptions were large numbersof suchflocks, distributed and nomenclature of the birds are often indef- spatially and temporallyover the migratory

128 AmericanB•rds, March, 1977 front. If this is true, it seems reasonable that the fall (Forbush 1912:425), and on both Lab- fall populationsmay havenumbered in the tens rador and Newfoundland coasts the inhab- of millions. The populationin spring would itants killed all they could and preservedthem have been substantially smaller because of for winter use (Carroll 1910). Farther south, the mortality on the winteringgrounds and during curlewsvisited the New Englandcoast in var- the long migratory flights, but even then it iable numbersdepending on the weathercon- musthave been very large. ditionsof the season.When they were present, Timing of the population decline. -- large numbers apparently were taken. Bent Information on the time of the population (1929:133)mentions a wagonload taken in one declineis as vagueand retrospectiveas that on day; a wagon5 x 10 feet, filled uniformly to a original population levels. Most available depth of 3 feet, with 10 birds to a cubic foot, referencesmention the last recordedspecimen would hold approximately1500 birds. It •s not •n a particulararea, or the fact that the curlews really possiblefrom such isolatedincidents to werescarce at a particular time. There are only assessthe annual fall harvest,but it may be a few definite dates relative to changesin estimated to have been on the order of 1.5 to 2 populationlevels. million birds. J. D. Mitchell said that the curlews came to Consideringthe apparentpopulation of cur- southernTexas in spring in immenseflocks lews, it would seem that Mackay (1892) was between1856 and 1875, after whichtime they correct in stating that "The number killed •n d•sappeared(Forbush 1912:422). In Kansas, the greatmajority of yearsis trivial and hasno the last time the birds were presentand killed effectin diminishingtheir numbers."To pro- m numbers around Wichita was 1878 and vide perspective,one might considermodern 1879, accordingto James Howard (Forbush fall harvests in the United States of 40 million 1912:423).Curlews began diminishing rapidly Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura), 35 •n Nebraskain the early 1880s (fide Swenkin million Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), 11 Forbush 1912:423) and disappearedduring million Ring-neckedPheasants (Phasianus col- that decade. Thus, the population decline chicus),or 4 million Mallards (Anasplatyrhyn- became apparent in spring throughout the chos)(Banks, in press). plainsstates in 1875-1880. Winter harvest. -- Bent (1929:127) mentions Carroll (1910) indicated that curlews were excessiveshooting in the Argentinewintering very numerousin fall in Labrador up to 1889, groundsas a contributingcause to the decline d•sappearingin about 1890. Forbush (1912: of the curlew, but no harvest estimates are 424) saysthat fishermenof Labrador noted a possible.Consideration of the large area changeabout 1886 or 1887. W. T. Grenfell said involvedand the ratherlow humanpopulation theybecame scarce at the end of the 1880s,W. densityon the pampasin the 1800ssuggests P. Nye placedthe suddendecline at 1891, and that winter harvestwas probablynot signif- Henry B. Bigelowsaid they appearedin num- icantto suchan apparentlyabundant bird. bers until about 1892, all with reference to Spring harvest. -- There is extremelylittle Labrador (Forbush 1912). Parsons indicated informationon the midwesternspring harvest that theydiminished in numbersbetween 1876 prior to the diminution of curlew numbers. and 1886, after which time there was a great Swenk(1916) recordsan accountof wagon and suddenfalling off (Townsendand Allen loadsof curlewsbeing shot in the years1866- 1907). The decline was most noticeable in 1868 in the vicinity of Omaha, but concurrent Labrador, therefore, in the period 1885-1891, accounts of the vastness of the flocks of b•rds approximately a decade later than in the suggestthat even this amount of mortality midwestern United States. could have had little effect on the overall population. Again, one assumesthat many MORTALITY FACTORS largeflocks occurred throughout the prairies, pressuremust have been much less Fall harvest. -- Estimates of the fall harvest awayfrom the largecenters of humanpopula- of Eskimo Curlewsare as vague as those of tion. total populationsize. In Labrador,fishermen Market hunting. -- Forbush (1912:427) reportedlykilled curlewsby the thousandsin recordsthat shipmentsof EskimoCurlews and

Volume 31, Number 2 129 American Golden Ploversfrom the plains and found in western Kansas. Mississippivalley to easternmarkets began in Poisoning. -- Townsend and Allen (1907) the 1880s. He states: "When the Passenger reported that Labrador fishermen blamed Pigeonbegan to decreaserapidly in numbers, declinesin the curlewpopulation on poisoning about 1880, the marketmen looked about for by midwesternfarmers who were attempting to somethingto take its place in the market in control blackbird damage to corn. Forbush spring. They found a new supplyin the great (1912) correctlypoints out that curlewswere quantitiesof Ploverand Curlewin the Mis- not known to eat corn and suggeststhat such sissippivalley at that season."Townsend and poisoninghad no effect.The poisonmost likely Allen (1907) wrote that shipmentsbegan to in use at that time, and which was used on corn come into eastern markets in numbers about prepared as poison bait for Common Crows 1885,and Mackay (1892)noted that shipments (Corvus brachyrhynchos) was strychnine to the Bostonmarkets began about 1886. This (Kalmbach 1918),which would not havehad an was nearly a decade after the population effect on speciesthat did not directlyconsume declinehad beennoticed in the plainsstates. the grain. Habitat loss. -- There were probably no Storms. -- Townsend and Allen (1970) sug- significant changesin the physical nesting gestedthat the suddenfalling off of curlew habitat of the Eskimo Curlew in the 19th cen- numbers might have been the result of their tury, at leastnone caused by humaninfluence. being overwhelmedby a stormduring migra- Similarly, exceptfor a moderateexpansion of tion. Stormscertainly did havean effecton the the human populationand related land use fall migration, as acknowledgedby Forbush changes,there was probablylittle changein (1912) and othersin describingthe occurrence Labrador, the main staging area for the fall of Eskimo Curlews and American Golden migration. Ploverson the New Englandcoast. Greenway As early as 1910, Cookeinvoked settlement (1958:267) correlated three occurrences of the and cultivationboth in the winteringgrounds curlew in Britain with the presenceof hur- and along the spring migration route as an ricanes in the Atlantic. However, Forbush explanationof the curlew'sdecline. Wetmore (1912:429)was probably correct in stating:"No (1926:147)suggested that the developmentof storm ever blew that was far-reaching,severe intensivecultivation and grazing had wrought or continuousenough to have threatenedthe suchgreat changes in the ecologicalconditions of these birds when they were of the Argentinepampas that both the curlew numerous.... "Once the populationhad and the Bartramian (Upland Sand- declinedgreatly, a severestorm might have piper), Bartrarnia longicauda,were unable to causedthe death of a large proportionof the adjust and were crowdedout. Todd (1963:308) remaining birds. Greenway(1958) noted that felt that the planting of wheat in the pampas eight hurricanescrossed the curlew'sprobable destroyedthe winteringgrounds and the cul- fall migrationroute in Augustand September, tivation of cropsin the prairie region of the 1900-21. Mississippi valley destroyed the feeding Nestingfailure. -- Reproductivefailure was grounds on the northern migration. Swenk not postulated as a cause of the curlew's (1916) noted that the heaviestspring flights in declineby early authors,but in viewof recent the midwest were at the beginning of corn information on the effects of poor breeding planting time, but suggestedthat the curlews successin local populationsof other speciesit fed heavilyon grubs uncoveredby plowing. mightbe consideredat leastfor yearsafter the Forbush(1912) believed that increasedhunting initial decline.Barry (1962) showed that a delay by settlers,rather than the cultivationthat in the nestingseason of Brant (Brantabernicla) followedsettlement, was the major detrimental causedby bad weatherresulted in loweredpro- factor. Bent (1929:98) consideredthe lossof the ductivity. A smaller proportion of adults prairiesto be a major factor in the declineof nestedin a bad year than in a normal year and severalspecies of shorebirds. More recently, clutches of those that nested were smaller than Rising (1974) consideredthat modificationof in normalyears. There was no renestingby grasslandhabitat had a profoundeffect on the birds that lost broods,and someyoung from distribution of severalbird speciesno longer late nestswere unableto migrate. Reduced

130 American B•rds, March, 1977 breeding was also reported for Snow Geese salinityover a wider zone of the Southern (Chen caerulescens)and Canada Geese (Branta Ocean and cooling the sub-Antarctic canadensis) in the area with an estimated 85% regions.This wouldtend to carrythe belt of the adultsof thesespecies failing to nestin a of southernwesterlies a degree or two late year. Lack (1933) suggestedthat late nearer the equator and intensify the availability of nest sitesbecause of a delayed atmospheric circulation, pushing the snow melt might make reproductionby some meterologicalequator a little farther populations of Arctic Terns (Sterna para- north and increasingthe supplyof warm disaea) impossiblein some years. Holmes equatorialwater to the Gulf Stream.In (1%6) reportednest losses by ( the northernhemisphere, and especially alpina) as the result of bad weather, and in the North Atlantic, this would rein- relatedpoor survival of youngin oneyear to the force the warming and northward shift combined effects of predation and adverse of the climatic zonesto be expectedfrom weather conditions.Further, Sealy (1975) has milder wintersand melting of the ice on shown that delayed snow melt caused some the Arctic Ocean.3• This is probably a reproductivefailure in a populationof Crested fair descriptionof the changesfrom the (Aethia cristatella) and Least (A. pusilla) culmination of the 'Little Ice Age' Auklets. around 1800 to 1940. In these 140 years world temperaturesrose by between 1 CLIMATIC FACTORS and 2øC." The warmingtrend may havebegun as early The period of time sincethe retreat of the as the 1700s;it was most noticeablefrom the Pleistoceneglaciation has been marked by a late 1800s to 1940 (Lamb 1965). There was a seriesof epochswith differingclimatic condi- rapid warmingof the Arctic and a recessionof tions (Lamb 1966:5). The two periods imme- the sea ice from about 1830 to 1930. The diatelypreceding the present,and the climatic greater strength of North Atlantic westerly factors involved in the transition between them, winds markedly increasedthe number of days maybe importantrelative to the declineof the for which British weather was classified as Eskimo Curlew. "westerly" from 1880 to 1920. The average A cold periodoften referred to as the Little length of the growing season in Britain Ice Age occurredfrom about 1500 to 1800, or increased from 255-265 days in 1870-95 to perhapsfrom 1430to 1850 (Lamb 1965, 1966; 270-275 days in 1920-39 (Lamb 1966). Com- U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric parable changespresumably occurred in other ResearchProgram 1975). During this time the parts of the northern hemisphereduring the glaciersof Europereached their mostadvanced same time (U.S. Committee for the Global positionsin the past 10,000years and the pack AtmosphericResearch Program 1975:149). ice in the North Atlantic was extensive. Winters A major factor in the warming trend of in the northernhemisphere were severe and the 1800-1940 was the intensification and north- shortenedgrowing season resulted in the aban- ward shift of the general atmosphericcircula- donment of farmland in parts of northern tion in the northern hemisphere.The position . In central England the averageJan~ and speed of belts of prevailing winds are uarytemperature in the 1780swas 21/2øC lower determined by pressure gradients that are than in the 1920s. Detailed information on this relatedto land and water surfacetemperatures. cold period and its effects are provided by In the period 1780-1820the Gulf Stream was Lamb (1965, 1966)and Bryson(1974). farther souththan in the presentcentury. Low The Little Ice Age ended with a nearly pressuretroughs in the upper westerliesthat worldwide climatic amelioration. Lamb affect the western North Atlantic were farther (1965:50) writes as follows: west 100 years ago than at present (Lamb "It seemslikely that at the presentepoch 1966:15). The northward shift of pressure a small increase in the available solar zones and intensification of circulation was radiation would increasethe melting of mostprominent from about 1880 on. From the the world'sgreatest ice-cap in the Ant- 1890s to the 1920s the mean value of sea sur- arctic, spreadingcold melt-waterof low face temperaturesrose by over 2øC south of

Volume 31, Number 2 131 Newfoundland.In the same time period pres- New England. Second,market hunting suffi- sure rose over the subtropicalanticyclone belt cient to put excessivepressure on the spring of the North Atlantic and fell over Iceland, migrantsdid not begin until severalyears after Greenland, and Labrador. These changes the springpopulation decline had been noted. indicated an intensification of the westerlies These points, and other information on the betweenthese pressureareas and northward timing of the population decline, when con- displacement of the entire system (Lamb sidered with the more recent knowledgeof 1972 393). phenomenaassociated with the changingch- Volcanic action. -- The presence of an mate of the 19th century,permit the construc- atmosphericdust veil as the result of a volcanic tion of the following highly speculativebut eruption can have important effects on the plausiblehistory of the curlew'sfate. amount of solar radiation reachingthe earth. In the early 1700s,the Eskimo Curlew fed Lamb (1972:47, 418) has graphed measure- and fattenedin Labrador,before striking out mentsof the strengthof the direct solarbeam acrossthe North Atlantic for its wintering from 1883 to 1954 and has shown a reduction grounds. Some of the flocks met with storms In solar beam intensity of 20-30% in some severeenough to force •a return to the North months following great volcaniceruptions of American coast, and a landfall was made in the 1883 and 1902 and a lesser reduction after Carolinas.During the 1700s and on into the 1888 and 1907. There was a marked lowering 1800s a warming trend in the northern hem- of prevailingsurface temperature in yearsafter ispherewas initiated with the slow northward major volcaniceruptions, as much as0.5-1.0øC shiftof warmerwaters and winds, resulting in a In middle latitudes. The duration of lowered northward movement and intensification of temperaturesis greaterat higherlatitudes than storm patterns. In the late 1700s and early In middle or tropical latitudes (Lamb 1800sthe migratingcurlews (and )met 1972.421). stormsmore quickly after their departurefrom Drought. • Severe droughts affected the Labrador, and when forced to shore landed midwesternportion of North America during alongthe New Englandcoast. Those flocks that the 1870s and 1890s (U.S. Committee for the landed weresubjected to rather severehunting Global AtmosphericResearch Program (1975: pressure,but sincemany flocks were not struck 127). Information published by the U.S. by stormsand continuedon a non-stopflight to Department of Agriculture (1941:692)shows SouthAmerica the impacton the total popula- that precipitation was more than 10% below tion was not significant.By the mid-1800s the averagein 1886 (the first year graphed),1893, northward shift and intensification of atmos- and 1894, and approximately 2-5% below pheric circulation had increasedthe number averagein 1887, 1889, and 1890 in the area and severityof stormsand a larger proportion between the Rocky Mountains and the Mis- of birds were forced to the coast, where the sissippiRiver. Bryson(1974) suggestedthat the gunnerstook large tolls, marketing somebirds great Bison (Bisonbison) herdsof the plains to meet the needs of the increasinghuman stateswould have diminishedby 50-75% as a population. Still, good wintering conditions result of decreasedprecipitation in the late and successfulnesting permitted the curlewto 19th century, even without increasedhunting maintain its large population. pressure. By about 1870, those birds that left Lab- rador and did not meet storms flew with a DISCUSSION beam wind that had been slightly altered in directionover the yearsby the northwardshift A new look at the informationgathered by of the atmosphericcirculation, and flew with Forbush (1912) and Swenk (1916) has yielded windsthat werestronger than they had beena twofacts of chronologythat thoseauthors seem century ago. The slightly altered angle of to have overlooked. First, the population departure from Labrador, caused by the decltne of the Eskimo Curlew was noted in the alteredwind, and the increaseddrift imposed spring populationsin the midwest approx- on the birds by the strongerbeam winds (Mat- imately a decade before a decline became thews1955:5) led the birds along a flight line apparent in fall populationsin Labrador and with a more easterlycomponent than in pre-

132 American Birds, March, 1977 v•ous decades, and some flocks missed South remaininglarge flock. America and perishedin the South Atlantic. The precedingsection may be consideredby Thosethat reachedthe pampaswere met with someto be fantasyrather than speculation •ncreasinglyaltered habitat and perhaps with a Certainly a large proportion of it is, at this greater amount of predation from the increas- point, unrestableas a hypothesis.Admittedly ing human population.By the mid-1870ssig- there are no data to support parts of the mficantly fewer birds were available for the speculation,and data relatingto other parts northwardmigration, and thosethat reached have been stretched. The lack of mention of an Texas and moved on through Kansas and orientationor navigationsystem other than the Nebraskafound that the grubsand grasshop- wind may be the greatestshortcoming of the pershad beengreatly reduced in numbersby idea; the fact that we do not know whether the drought. Large numbers of the declining EskimoCurlew utilized celestial navigation or population of curlews were taken by the someother method of orientationdoes not per- •ncreasinghuman population.Still, thosethat mit the assumptionthat there was no mech- reachedthe breedinggrounds had little dif- anismthat might havecountered the effectsof ficultyfinding territories and food,and a high changingwind conditions.Similarly, conJec- level of reproductivesuccess resulted in the ture that the presenceof volcanic ash in the reestablishmentof large fall populations. atmospherereduced the nesting seasonsuffi- Nonetheless,increasing difficulty during the ciently to reduce reproductivesuccess, par- fall migration becauseof the winds resultedin ticularlyover a periodof severalyears, may be marked declinesin the springpopulations, of extreme.The climatologicalbooks and papers which human observers became aware about that I haveconsulted are not specificfor years 1875-1880. in which important biological observations Perhapsa greaterincidence of stormsforced were reportedand I may have erred in details a higher proportion of flocks to the New of interpretationor extrapolation. England coasts, so that observers and TheAmerican Golden Plover was a compan- recorders of the birds in that area were ion of the Eskimo Curlew in migration, and unaware of a decline. Large numbers of an wassubjected to similar pressurefrom hunters increasingproportion of flockswere killed in and would have been subjectedto similar cli- the fall, and dwindling numbersreached an matic factors influencing'migration. The alteredArgentine wintering habitat. Now hunt- ploveralso suffered a severepopulation decline mg pressureincreased in the springmigration near the end of the 19th century (Forbush w•ththe adventof markethunting in the 1880s; 1912).There was an inlandcomponent of fall an ever-decreasingnumber of birds reached migration of the plover population, however the nestinggrounds. (Bent 1929), and greater survival of th•s From about 1884, a dust veil placed in the subgroup may have tempered the overall atmosphereby eruptingvolcanos reduced the decline of that species and permitted a amountof solarradiation reaching the nesting rebuildingof the populationof the species groundsof the curlew. Surfacetemperatures when protection from hunters became effec- were only slightly lowered,but the snow lin- tive. gered and nestingwas late. Many birds were Similarly, the Hudsonian , Lirnosa unable to completea nestingcycle and raise haernastica,followed the samegeneral migra- young. Reproductivesuccess could no longer tion route to South American wintering matchlosses at seaand to huntersduring the grounds.This speciesapparently was not as fall migration and lossesdue to hunting and abundant as the Eskimo Curlew or American poorhabitat duringthe winter and the spring GoldenPlover (Bent 1927) and presumably was m•gration.A declinein the fall populationwas not subjectedto as severehunting pressure.A finally recognizedby the gunners, who con- less extensivepopulation decline was noted t•nued to harvest what they could. By about near the end of the 19th century (Forbush 1900 so few birds successfullycompleted 1912:298). m•gration and were able to raise broods that The facts that the climate was changing finding mates may have become difficult. A rather rapidly in the sameperiod of time •n final hurricanecould havewiped out the only whichthe EskimoCurlew population was rap-

Volume 31, Number 2 133 idly declining,and that severalaspects of the adjacent States. Mass. State Board of Agrm, climaticchange involved important factors in Boston.622 pp. the curlew'slife historydemand that a correla- Greenway,J. C., Jr. 1958.Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Spec. Publ. no. 13, Amer. Comm tion be sought.It is simplisticto continueto Internat.Wild Life Protection,New York. 518pp blamethe presentplight of the curlewsolely on Holmes,R. T. 1%6. Breedingecology and annual theshortsightedness, ignorance, or greedof the cycle adaptationsof the Red-backedSandpiper market hunters,and the recognitionthat other (Calidris alpina) in northern . Condor factorsmay haveplayed a part in its decline 68:3-46. indicatesthat it is simplisticto believethat pro- Kalmbach, E. R. 1918. The Crow and its relation to tection alone can, or could have, halted or man.U.S. Dept. Agric.Bull. 621. reversed that decline. Lack, D. 1933. Nestingconditions as a factor con- trolling breedingtime in birds. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1933:231-237. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Lamb, H. H. 1%5. Britain'schanging climate. pp. 3-31 in The biological significanceof climatic Loren Croxton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife changesin Britain, C. G. Johnsonand L. P. Smith, Service stimulated my thinking about the eds. SymposiaInst. Biol. no. 14. AcademicPress, Eskimo Curlew soon after I had seen several New York. newsreleases about climatic change. He aswell Lamb, H. H. 1%6. The changingclimate. London, as M. A. Howe, D. B. Marshall, J. M. Penkala, Methuenand Co. 236pp. K. P. Able, and D. McKinley read the man- Lamb, H. H. 1972. Climate: present, past, and uscript.I particularlyappreciate comments of future.Vol. I. London,Methuen and Co. 613pp. Reid A. Brysonof the Institute for Environ- Lawson,J. 1%6. A new voyageto Carolina. Ann Arbor,Univ. Microfilms,Inc. Reprintof 1709edi- mentalStudies, University of Wisconsin,on the tion. climaticaspects of the paper. Mackay, G. H. 1892. Habits of the Eskimo Curlew OVumeniusborealis) in NewEngland. Auk 9:16-21. Matthews,G. V. T. 1955. Bird navigation.Cam- LITERATURE CITED bridgeMonographs in ExperimentalBiology no. 3 CambridgeUniv. Press. 141 pp. Banks, R. C. 1976. Extation. Science.191:1271, 1292. Rising,J. D. 1974.The statusand faunal affinitiesof Banks,R. C. In press.Human relatedmortality of the summer birds of western Kansas. Univ. Kans birds in the United States. Sci. Bull. 50:347-388. Barry, T. W. 1%2. Effect of late seasonson Ariantic Sealy,S. G. 1975.Influence of snowon egg-layingm Brant reproduction.Jour. Wildl. Mgt. 26:19-26. auklets. Auk 92:528-538. Bent, A. C. 1927. Life history of North American Swenk, M. H. 1916. The Eskimo Curlew and its shorebirds. Part I. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 142. disappearance.Smithsonian Report for 1915,pp Bent, A. C. 1929. Life histories of North American 325-340. Shorebirds. Part II. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 146. Todd, W. E. C. 1%3. Birds of the Labrador Penin- Bodsworth, F. 1954. The last of the curlews. New sula and adjacentareas. Toronto, Univ. Toronto York, Dodd, Mead and Co. Press. Bryson,R. A. 1974.A perspectiveon climaticchange. Townsend, C. W., and G. M. Allen. 1907. Birds of Science 184:753-760. Labrador. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 33:277-428. Bureauof SportFisheries and Wildlife. 1973.Threat- U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric ened wildlife of the United States. Resource ResearchProgram. 1975. Understandingclimatic Publ.114. 289 pp. change.A programfor action.Washington, D C, Carroll, W. J. 1910. The Eskimo Curlew or dough- Natl. Acad. Sci. bird. and Stream 74:372. U.S. Departmentof Agriculture. 1941. Climate and Clark, A. H. 1905. The migrationsof certain Man. Yearbookof Agriculture.Washington, D.C. shorebirds. Auk 22:134-140. Vincent, J., compiler.1%6. Red data book. Vol 2, Cooke,W. W. 1910. Distribution and migration of Aves. Internatl. Union for Conservation of Nature North American shorebirds. Bur. Biol. Surv. Bull. andNatural Resources, Morges, Switzerland. 35. Wetmore, A. 1926. Observationson the birds of Forbush,E. H. 1912. A historyof the game birds, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile. U.S. valdfowl and shore birds of Massachusetts and Nat. Mus. Bull. 133.448 pp.

134 AmericanBirds, March, 1977