BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 17I 



seen grey and red birds together in early May ; those in grey 

 plumage look larger. Even in September a few have not lost 

 the summer red, for, like the Knot, the Godwit is irregular in 

 its changes. The birds on the rocks and when feeding keep up 

 a wheezy undercurrent of notes, quite distinct from the rather 

 harsh double flight call. None of the many attempts to 

 describe this barking note is satisfactory. 



In summer the Bar-tailed Godwit is a red bird. The upper 

 parts are a mixture of blackish brown and reddish chestnut, 

 the under parts chestnut-red. The head is streaked, the 

 coverts are greyish, and more decided streaks show on the 

 back than in the Black-tailed Godwit. The upper tail-coverts 

 are white streaked with brown, and the tail is barred with 

 brown and white. In the strikingly different winter dress the 

 upper parts are ash-grey and the under parts white ; brownish 

 streaks show on the mantle. Though the tail is partly grey, 

 the upper tail-coverts are barred with brown. Most birds in 

 the early autumn flocks are immature, more tawny yellow than 

 the winter old birds ; the breast is buff and slightly streaked. The 

 upper tail-coverts are white blotched with brown, and the tail 

 is barred with brown and white. The colour of the bill is 

 often described as brown ; Sharpe, however, says " bill flesh- 

 colour, dusky on its terminal half ; feet greyish blue." I have 

 not handled a summer-plumaged bird, but those I have seen 

 at fairly close quarters seemed to differ little from autumn 

 birds that I have examined. The bill in these is delicate rose- 

 pink for the proximal two-thirds, the tip black ; the legs are 

 plumbeous, the irides very dark brown. Length, 14 to 18 ins. 

 (according to length of bill). Wing, 8 ins. Tarsus, 2 ins. 



Black- tailed Godwit. Limosa limosa (Linn.). 



The breeding range of the Black-tailed Godwit (Plate 71) 

 extends from Denmark and Holland across central Europe to 



