I/O THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



breeders often remain until, in August, the buff-breasted young 

 of the year appear. From then until well into October, on all 

 suitable parts of our coasts, Godwits abound ; often flocks 

 number thousnnds of individuals. Tidal ooze or sandbanks 

 are the favourite feeding grounds of the Godwit. The food, 

 marine invertebrates, may be picked up with the tip of the bill 

 and rapidly jerked up until swallowed, be intercepted as they 

 seek to hide themselves in the sand, or be probed for nostril 

 deep. The upward tilt of the bill, as well as its length, varies, 

 but it is always visible ; at times the bird sweeps its bill 

 through the shallow pools like an Avocet. As the tide rises 

 Godwits congregate with Knots and Oyster-catchers along the 

 sand at the edge of the water, and, until the ebb, rest in dense 

 packs. As a rule they keep on the sea side of the crowd, 

 their long legs allowing them to wade deeply ; they will stand 

 on one leg, slowly hopping sideways up the shore as the 

 water rises. When the tide turns the pack rises with a great 

 rush of wings and flies, with strong wing-beats and with neck 

 bent and head sunk in the shoulders, to the exposed banks, 

 and there, walking rather deliberately with bill more or less 

 horizontal, scatter to feed. Before alighting the flock will 

 often perform rapid and complicated evolutions, turning and 

 twisting, and shooting diagonally towards the beach with 

 an angular twist before alighting, which a friend aptly calls 

 "side-slipping." Reefs and rocky islets are often crowded 

 with Godwits at high tide, and, as the birds are driven 

 from the banks, become congested areas ; yet fresh arrivals 

 come in and, lowering their long legs, drop into the mob. 

 Those on the outskirts leap into the air, and with a flicker 

 of wings drop where the crush is already great, so tbat these 

 " resting " packs are in a continuous state of disturbance. 

 Perhaps it is from this habit that the bird gets a misleading 

 local aame — " Stone-Curlew." Red birds, in almost full summer 

 dress, are in the grey packs in April, and in Norfolk I have 



