THE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT 8i 



daintily about within easy gunshot. It flies well 

 and rapidly, like all its allies, and frequently wades 

 breast - high in the shallows. The food of this 

 species consists of worms, insects and their larvae, 

 snails, and the seeds, buds, and roots of various 

 plants. The call-note of this Godwit resembles the 

 syllables ty-ii-it ; whilst its cry, when alarmed at 

 its breeding-grounds, is a loud and clear tyu-tyil. 

 In Western Europe the breeding season of the 

 Black-tailed Godwit is in May ; occasionally eggs 

 may be found late in April. Numbers of nests 

 may be found within a small area of marsh. The 

 nest is made upon the ground, in a tussock of 

 sedge, or concealed amongst the herbage, and is 

 merely a hollow, lined with a little dry grass or 

 other vegetable refuse. The four eggs are olive 

 brown in ground colour, spotted and blotched with 

 darker olive brown, pale brown, and grey. But 

 one brood is reared in the season. 



In breeding or summer plumage the adult male 

 Black-tailed Godwit has the head, neck, and breast 

 reddish chestnut, marked with blackish brown on 

 the crown and breast ; the remainder of the upper 

 parts (except the rump, which is white) are brown, 

 more or less flecked and spotted with black; the 

 wings are dark brown, with a conspicuous white 



