4<)0 GKALIATORES. 



atod above tlie eye^ wlioso function appears to be 

 that of lubricating and defending this delicate organ 

 from the effects of saline and other fluids. They are 

 subject to a double moult^ and their nuptial dress is 

 \'ery different from the plumage they wear during 

 the otlier parts of the year. The females are much 

 larger than the males. Like the other Scolopacida3, 

 they are migratory, and their passage takes place at 

 the same periods. 



The birds of this sub -family have some resem- 

 blance to the Snipes, and also to the Tringas ; but 

 their legs are longer, and perhaps also stouter, in 

 proportion to their size, and their bodies more 

 lightly made. The chief difference, however, is in 

 the bill, which in birds that, as regards their haunts, 

 are such close neighbours, is the most important. 

 The bills of the Godwits are very long, soft, and 

 flexible for their whole length, rather compressed 

 and triangular at the base, depressed in the rest of 

 the length, and dilated and obtuse at the tip, but 

 not enlarged into a knob like that of the Snipes, 

 nor having the upper mandible in the least hooked 

 and projecting over the under. It is not a snapping 

 bill, nor a boring bill, neither is it a scooping or a 

 dabbling bill. It is not very easy to find a single 

 epithet descriptive of the function that it performs, 

 or rather of the manner in which it performs that 

 function. It is not shovelling or scooping, for it 

 does not remove from its place the sludge and sedi- 

 ment of the water among which it seeks its food; 

 and it does not dabble and wash the mud, as Ducks 

 do, till it finds the substance of which it is in quest. 

 " Poking '' is the nearest epithet, but does not 

 express the action exactly, as the bird " tries 

 about,^^- and selects its food by the sense of touch, 

 and not by sight. These birds are more of a wading 

 habit than Snipes, as Snipes are more of waders 

 than Woodcocks ; yet the food is not found in the 

 water, but in the ooze ; and if that ooze is soft 

 enough to be penetrated by the bill, the fact of its 



