scolopacid.t:. 461 



being with or without a small stratum of water over 

 it is of little consequence. That food is chiefly 

 mud worms^ mud insects^ and mud larvae ; and the 

 places which the birds frequent are those in which 

 these most abound. The banks of the eddies of 

 slow-running streams^ or the accumulations of 

 sludge that are left bare in the estuaries and creeks 

 upon the shores of low and rich land^ on the ebbing 

 of the tide, and especially the runs of mud from the 

 richer grounds into the pools of fens, are the fa- 

 vourite places with these birds. They breed in the 

 fens, at a considerable distance inland if the ground 

 is suitable, but they descend nearer to the sea in 

 winter. In their inland haunts they hide themselves 

 during the heat of the day among the long grass, 

 where they have their nests ; but when near the sea, 

 their resting-time varies with that at which the tide 

 leaves their feeding-places in the best condition. 

 Godwdts run very fast, more rapidly than Snipes or 

 Tringas, and make their escape to a considerable 

 distance on foot before they take wing ; when they 

 do, they yelp and clamour in a very loud and 

 rather harsh and bleating strain. 



The type of this sub -family is — 



The Red Godwit (Lim-osa rufa). These birds usually 

 dwell ill small societies, frequenting the niud-baiiks of 

 river-mouths, or mlets of the sea abounding in oozy 

 shores, where they readily meet with their usual food, — 

 worms, aquatic animals, and the smaller molhisca. Their 

 flight is jiowerful though not very rapid, and when dis- 

 turbed and raised on the wing, they utter a cry not unlike 

 the bleat of a goat. In April the males have acquired 

 their nuptial plumage, after which period they entii-ely 

 desert our shores, retiring to more northern countries, — 

 Iceland, Lapland, and Sweden, — to breed. 



In Holland and the level parts of France, which afford 

 them a congenial residence, they abound much more than 

 in England, and are annually killed m great numbers for 

 the London market. 



