SCOLOPACID-E. 



459 



SUB-FAMILY I. 



LiMosiNJ=:. 



Tlte Godwits. 



G-EN. Chakac. — Bill generally long, slender, entirety curved or straight from 

 the base, with the sides more or less grooved towards the tip, which usualh* 

 overlaps that of the lower mandible, and is obtuse ; the nostrils basal, and 

 placed longitudinally in the lateral groove ; the win^s long and pointed ; 

 the tail usually short and even ; the tarsi lengthened and slender ; the toes 

 long, the lateral ones united at the base to the middle toe, the hind toe 

 short, and sometimes wanting. 



Fig. 18i. — the ked godwit. 

 {Limosa rufu.) 



The Godwits are birds of considerable size ; they 

 inhabit marshes and the banks and mouths of rivers, 

 where the muddy deposit is soft and deep/ and in 

 which, by probing with their long and semi-flexible 

 bills, they find the materials upon which they feed. 

 When thus engaged, these birds are frequently seen 

 with their head entirely under water, and accord- 

 ingly they are amply provided with the gland situ- 



