BIRDS OF KANSAS. 187 



It feeds upon Crustacea, insects, worms, larvae, etc., moving 

 about in a horizontal position, picking and probing as it goes. 

 Its flight is easy and well sustained, though not very rapid; in 

 alighting, raises the wings over the back as it touches the ground. 

 These birds as a rule are shy, and keep well out of reach, but 

 in case any are wounded, love overcomes fear, and with frantic 

 cries and tremulous wings their friends hover over and about 

 them, oflfering a tempting shot to the merciless hunter; for their 

 flesh is tender and juicy, and highly esteemed. They act in a 

 similar manner when their nests or young are approached; at 

 such times they often drop to the ground, feign lameness, and in 

 various ways try to divert your attention and lead you away. 



Their nests are usually placed on grassy grounds; a slight de- 

 pression in the soil, worked out to fit the body, and sparingly 

 lined with the old grasses. Eggs usually four, olive drab, rather 

 sparingly spotted and blotched with varying shades of umber 

 brown and pale purplish shell stains, the markings occasionally 

 blending together, and thickest about the larger end; in form, 

 ovate. A set of four eggs, taken April 29th, 1878, from a nest 

 on a marsh, at Oakland Valley, Iowa, measure: 2.10x1.57, 2.20 

 xl.55, 2.26x1.57, 2.27x1.58. 



Limosa hsemastica (Linn.). 



HUDSONIAN GODWIT. 

 PLATE XI. 



Migratory; rare. Arrive about the first of April to middle 

 of May; return in August and September. 



B. 548. K. 545. C. 629. G. 253, 86. U. 251. 



Habitat. Nearly the whole of America; only known to breed 

 in the Arctic regions. 



Sp. Chae. '■'Summer adult: Above, blackish brown, Irregularly spotted and 

 barred with pale ochraeeous, the rump plain brownish black; upper tail coverts 

 immaculate white; wing coverts and shorter quills plain dark brownish gray; 

 primaries brownish black, their shafts white. Lower parts chestnut rufous, 

 narrowly barred with brownish black, the feathers of the belly, etc., often tipped 

 with white. Tail black, with the base and tip (narrowly) white. Lining of 

 wings and axillars plain smoky black. Winter plumage: Above, plain dull 

 brownish gray; beneath white, the breast shaded with brownish gray. Other 

 characters as in summer dress. Toumj: Somewiiat like the winter plumage, but 

 each feather of dorsal region markcil witli a siibterminal dusky crescent and a 



