LIMOSA FEDOA, GREAT MARBLED GODWIT. 493 



Intl. Orn. ii, 1790, 718 {Ammcan Godwit, Arct. Zool. ii, 465, No. 371 ; Lath., 

 Syu. V, 142).— WiLS., Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 30, pi. 56, f. 4. 



LimicuJa fedoa, Vieill., Aualyse, 1816. 



Limosa fecloa, Ord, etl. Wils. vii, 1825, — .— Bp., Obs. Wils. 1825; Syn. 1828, 328; List, 

 1838, 52.— Sab., Fraukl. Jonru. 689.— Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 395.— Nutt., 

 Mau. ii, 1834, 173.— AtJD., Oru. Biog. iii, 1835,287 ; v, 590 ; \A. 238 ; Syn. 1839, 

 246 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 331, pi. 348.— Giu., B. L. I. 1844, 259.— Putn., Fr. Ess. lust, i, 

 1856, 217.— Newis., P. R. R. Rep. vi, 1857, 100.— Cass., B. N. A. 1858, 740.— 

 Heerm., p. R. R. Rep. x, 1859. pt. vi, 65.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 

 1860, 24.5.— Cab., J. f. O. iv, 350 (Cuba).- Scl., Ibis i, 1859, 230 (Belize).— 

 Leyl., p. Z. S. 18.59, 64 (Hondnras).— Salv., Ibis, 1865, 190 (Guatemala).— 

 Dress., Ibis, 1866, 39 (Texas).— La WR., Aun. Lye. N. Y. viii, 1866, 294 ; ix, 210 (Yu- 

 catan).— Wheat., Ohio Agiic. Rep. 1860, No.221.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 175.— Hoy, 

 Smiths. Rep. 1864, 438 (Missouii).- Verr., Pr. Ess. lust, iii, 1862, 159.— Allen, 

 ihid. iv, 1864, 87.— MclLWit.,i/»VL v, 1866, 93.— Col'es, ibid, v, 1868, 296.— Trippe, 

 ihid. vi, 1871, 119 (Minnesota).— Coues, Pr. Bost. Soc. xii, 1868, 123.— Turnb., 

 B. E. Pa. 1868, 32.— Mayn., Guide, 1870, 142.— Coue-s^ Pr. Phila. Acad. 1871, 

 32.— Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 356 (Florida, iu winter).- Trippe, Pr. Bost. 

 Soc. XV, 1872, 241 (Iowa).— Coues, Key, 1872, 257.— Snow, B. Ivans. 1873, 10.— 

 RiDGW., Ann. Lye. N. Y. x, 1874, 384. 



Scolopax marmorata, Lath., Ind. Oru. ii, 1790, 720. 



LimUula marmoraia, Vieill., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat.; Gal. Ois. ii, 1825, 115, pi. 243. 



Limofia americana, Steph., Shaw's Gen. Zool. 



Limosa adspersa, LiCHT. 



Eah. — Entire temperate North America ; Central and South America. West ludies. 

 Breeds in the Missouri and Upper Mississippi regions, and thence to the Saskatchewan. 

 Winters iu the Southern States and southward. 



JActitcnunt Warren's Exptdilmn. — 4884, Kauesville ; 5450, Fort Union. 



Not observed by Captain Raynolds' Expedition, uor by the later ones. 



Comparatively little has been learned of the breeding resorts and 

 habits of this Godwit, though it is such a comiuou and generally distri- 

 buted bird during its migrations and iu winter. Audubon surmises that 

 ir may breed iu South Carolina and perhaps also in Texas, where, as 

 Mr. Dresser found it in summer, it probably does. Occurring in abun- 

 dance along most of the Atlantic coast, it nevertheless appears less 

 common north of Massachusetts, and has not, it would appear, been 

 observed much, if any, beyond New England in that longitude. The 

 centre of its abundance in summer, and its main breeding ground, is, 

 apparently, the ISTorthern Mississippi and Eastern Missouri regions, and 

 thence to the Saskatchewan ; for, uidike its relative {L. luuhonica), it 

 does not proceed very far north to nest. It breeds in Iowa, and in Min- 

 nesota and Eastern Dakota, where I observed it in June, and where the 

 eggs have been procured. I lound it on the plains bordering the Red 

 Kiver, in company with Long-billed Curlews and great numbers of the 

 I>artramian Sandpipers, nesting, like these species, on the prairie near 

 the river and about the adjoining pools, but not necessarily by the 

 water's edge. In its habits at this season it most nearly resembles the 

 Curlew, and the two species, of much the same size and general appear- 

 ance, might be readily mistaken at a distance where the difference in 

 the bill might not be perceived. On intrusion near the nest, the birds 

 mount in the air with loud, piercing cries, hovering slowly around with 

 labored flight in evident distress, and approaching sometimes within a 

 few feet of the observer. 



The only i)erfect set of eggs of the Godwit I have seen were taken 

 June 1, 1871, fifty miles northwest of Saint Taul, ^linnesota; both pa- 

 rents Wi'rci secured and deposited in the Siiint Paul Academy, where I 

 examined tln'm ; so that the i«leiitilication is untpiestionaltle. 'flierear« 

 three eggs iu this set, uu'asuriug li..'{0 by l.GO, L*.L*8 by l.")!}, and L'.25 by 

 l.<;2. The color is a clear, light olivaceous-drab; the markings are 

 small and numerous, but not very strongly pronounced — there is nothing 

 (in this set) of the heavy blotching and marking usually seen in waders' 



