256 PK.ECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^. 



Total length about 18.00 inches ; wing, 9.00 ; tail, 3.50 ; bill, 4.00 to 5.00 ; tarsus, 3 00 inches.^ 

 The plumage of this bii-cl in some stages is wonderfully similar to that oi Ntimenius longirostris ; 

 in fact the i-esemblance is so great that were it not for the conspicuous generic difierences it 

 would be rather difficult to distinguish them specifically. Both have precisely the same tints of 

 color, and also a nearly identical distribution of the markings. The main differences appear to be 

 the following : In Numenius the black bars of the upper parts are connected by broad stripes along 

 the middle of the feathers, while in Limosa these bars are all isolated and narrower, as well as of a 

 less deep black. The longitudinal streaks on. the head and neck are much less conspicuous in 

 Limosa ; in the latter there is also oftener a tendency to transverse bars on the crissum, and less 

 often to streaks on the foreneck. 



The Great Marbled Godwit lias been found tlirougliout North America from tlie 

 Pacific to the Atlantic coast, but is not known to occur north of the Selkirk Settle- 

 ment, Manitoba, and Hudson's Bay ; nor has it yet been traced any nearer than this 

 to the Arctic Circle, and it is not known to occur in any part of Alaska. By our 

 earlier writers it was supposed to be only a bird of transit in the United States ; but 

 this is a mistake. It is now known to breed in Northern Ohio, in Wisconsin, Iowa, 

 Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska, and also not improbably in Texas and the inter- 

 vening region. It passes the winter chiefly in the West India Islands, Mexico, Cen- 

 tral and South America. 



Mr. Leyland found this species common at the Belize ; Mr. Salvin met with it on 

 the Pacific coast of Guatemala, and Mr. Henshaw mentions its appearing in large 

 flocks on the Californian coast both in spring and fall. It is also given by Mr. E. 

 Browne in his List of the Birds of Vancouver Island ; but it does not appear to have 

 been traced farther north on the Pacific coast than that island, and it is not men- 

 tioned by Mr. Dall. 



According to Leotaud it visits the Island of Trinidad, arriving there in the month 

 of August and remaining until October. It is always found on the borders of the 

 sea, and is never present in great numbers. It is included by Dr. Gundlach among 

 the birds of Cuba. 



Eiehardson speaks of this species as abounding in the Pur Country, especially in 

 the interior, and mentions it as particularly abundant on the Plains of the Saskatche- 

 Avan, where it frequents marshy places, walking on the surface of the sjjhagnu, and 

 thrusting its bill among them up to the nostrils. The stomachs of those that he 

 killed when so engaged were found to be filled with fragments of leeches. The same 

 author states that in the United States it is a mere bird of passage, wintering beyond 

 our southern limit; but this is an error, as this species — to some extent — both 

 breeds and winters within our limits. Males of this species killed in the Pur Eegion 

 on the 21st of June had already begun to moult. The plumage of the females at the 

 same period appeared much worn, but show^ed no ]iew feathers. Captain Blakiston 

 also met with this species on the Saskatchewan, and afterward received specimens 

 of it from Hudson's Bay, in Avhich region Mr. Murray also noticed it occasionally. 



Mr. Dresser mentions that in June he noticed a few of these birds near Brownville 

 and Matamoras, but was able to procure only one specimen. Their occurrence in that 

 locality at that period renders it not impossible that a few may breed even in that 



1 A series of ten specimens, mcluding an equal number of males and females, shot by Mr. Franklin 

 Benner, in Minnesota, between June 5tli and 20th, was carefully measured, with the following results : 

 Males: Total length, 16.50-17.02, average, 17.00; extent, 30.50-31.50, aven)ge, 31.10; bill, 3.66-4.00, 

 average, 3.84. Females: Total length, 18.12-19.62, average, 19.10 ; extent, 32.00-33.87, average, 32.82 ; 

 bill, 4.54-5.06, average, 4.77. (See "Bulb Nutt. Orn. Club," V. Jan. 1880, p. IS.) 



