Curlew sandpiper

curlew sandpiper
    n 1: Old World sandpiper with a curved bill like a curlew [syn:
         {curlew sandpiper}, {Calidris Ferruginea}]
    

Sandpiper \Sand"pi`per\, n.
   1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of small limicoline
      game birds belonging to {Tringa}, {Actodromas},
      {Ereunetes}, and various allied genera of the family
      {Tringidae}.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The most important North American species are the
         pectoral sandpiper ({Tringa maculata}), called also
         {brownback}, {grass snipe}, and {jacksnipe}; the
         red-backed, or black-breasted, sandpiper, or dunlin
         ({Tringa alpina}); the purple sandpiper ({Tringa
         maritima}: the red-breasted sandpiper, or knot ({Tringa
         canutus}); the semipalmated sandpiper ({Ereunetes
         pusillus}); the spotted sandpiper, or teeter-tail
         ({Actitis macularia}); the buff-breasted sandpiper
         ({Tryngites subruficollis}), and the Bartramian
         sandpiper, or upland plover. See under {Upland}. Among
         the European species are the dunlin, the knot, the
         ruff, the sanderling, and the common sandpiper
         ({Actitis hypoleucus} syn. {Tringoides hypoleucus}),
         called also {fiddler}, {peeper}, {pleeps}, {weet-weet},
         and {summer snipe}. Some of the small plovers and
         tattlers are also called sandpipers.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.) A small lamprey eel; the pride.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Curlew sandpiper}. See under {Curlew}.

   {Stilt sandpiper}. See under {Stilt}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Curlew \Cur"lew\ (k[^u]r"l[=u]), n. [F. courlieu, corlieu,
   courlis; perh. of imitative origin, but cf. OF. corlieus
   courier; L. currere to run + levis light.] (Zool.)
   A wading bird of the genus {Numenius}, remarkable for its
   long, slender, curved bill.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: The common European curlew is {Numenius arquatus}. The
         long-billed ({Numenius longirostris}), the Hudsonian
         ({Numenius Hudsonicus}), and the Eskimo curlew
         ({Numenius borealis}, are American species. The name is
         said to imitate the note of the European species.
         [1913 Webster]

   {Curlew Jack} (Zool.) the whimbrel or lesser curlew.

   {Curlew sandpiper} (Zool.), a sandpiper ({Tringa ferruginea}
      or {Tringa subarquata}), common in Europe, rare in
      America, resembling a curlew in having a long, curved
      bill. See Illustation in Appendix.
      [1913 Webster]