SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



241 



Marketl peculiarities of tlie ^enus are that the 

 females are larger than the males, and that in- 

 cubation is performed by the males. The birds 

 are found in marshes, salt-water meadows, and 

 alonsic the shores of bays or lakes. They place 

 their nests on the g-round, but not invariably near 

 water, and lay three or four eggs, of a generally 

 drab hue, marked with dark brown. Their food. 



which 



consists of aquatic insects, shell-fish, 



woniis and the like, they capture by probing the 

 sand or mud with their long bills, or by following 

 retreating waves and snatching up the small 

 creatures thus left str.-uKled. 



Of the Hudsonian Godwit Air. P'orbush says: 

 " During my boyhood I frequently heard old 

 gunners about Boston tell their tales of the 

 Goose-bird which was well and favorably known 

 all along our coast. But it is impossible now to 

 tell with certainty whether these tales referred 

 to one or both of the Godwits. The Hudsonian 

 Godwit is now less rare than the larger species, 

 but few are seen or taken regularly on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast. It is shy, like its larger relative. 



iiut a g(jod bird caller finds nu difficulty in luring 

 it to his decoys. 



" The breeding range and nfigration of this- 

 species are more or less shrouded in mvstery. 

 The eggs ha\x' been found once by MacFarlane- 

 in the Anderson River region, which proves that 

 the birds breed near the coast of the ."\rctic Sea. 

 and that is about all we know of its breeding 

 range, except th.at it summers in Keewatin. W'e 

 must assume that the species goes to South 

 .\merica by sea, like the Eskimo Curlew, and 

 lands on Cape Cod and Long Island in numbers 

 only when driven there by storms. It was con- 

 sidered rare by Wilson and Audubon, as it prob- 

 ablv never was seen on the coast of the Middle 

 and Southern States in any numbers unless 

 driven in by a severe storm." ( Game Birds, Wild 

 foii'l and Shore Birds. ) 



The Hudsonian (iodwit feeds t(j a considerable 

 extent upon moscjuitoes and horse-flies, as exam- 

 ination of its stomach has amply proved. It is 

 therefore to be counted a useful bird, since the 

 insects it destrovs are known to be harmful. 



MARBLED GODWIT 

 Limosa fedoa {Liiin<Tus) 



A. O. U. Number 249 See Color I'late 38 



Other Names. — Great Marbled Godwit : Great God- 

 wit ; Red Curlew; Brant-bird; Marlin ; Red Marlin ; 

 Brown Marlin; Spike-billed Curlew; Spike-bill; 

 Badger-bird ; Dough- or Doe-bird. 



General Description. — Length. 21 inches; largest 

 shore bird, except the Long-billed Curlew. Prevailing 

 color, reddish, darker above; no white spot at base of 

 tail. Bill curved slightly upward. 



Color. — .\ light dull yellowish-rufous, browner 

 and richer above but varying much in intensity with 

 individuals; broad line over eye, sides of head, chin, 

 and upper throat, more whitish ; an indistinct dusky line 

 from bill through and behind eye; crown, brownish; 

 neck all around, spotted with dusky ; upper parts with 

 brownish-black center on each featlier ; rump, tail- 

 coverts, and tail, barred with blackish and brown ; 

 primaries, rufous, outer webs and ends of a few outer 



ones dusky; throat, breast, and sides, traz'ersely barred 

 ■zeitli brozi'ii. Ike markings iiarrou': bill, flesh-colored, 

 dusky on ridge and terminal half; legs, bluish-ash; iris, 

 brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Xest : On the ground in a dry- 

 field but not far from water; a depression, lined with 

 grass. Er.GS : 4, creamy-buff to light olive-drab, thickly 

 spotted with various shades of umber brown. 



Distribution. — North America ; breeds from valley 

 of the Saskatchewan south to North Dakota (formerly 

 to Iowa and Wisconsin) ; winters from southern Lower 

 California, Louisiana. Florida, and Georgia to Guate- 

 mala and Belize; casual in California in winter; in 

 migration occurs on Pacific coast nortli to British 

 Columbia, and on the Atlantic coast to the Maritime 

 Provinces (formerly) and south to the Lesser Antilles; 

 accidental in .Alaska. 



My first acquaintance with the Marbled God- 

 wit was one beautiful June day in North Dakota, 

 when I was wading in a large slough, deep not 

 only in mud and water, but in the delights of 

 inspecting nests of Canvas-back, Redhead, Ruddy 



Duck, and various other interesting water birds. 

 All at once I began to hear loud outcries, and a 

 flock of about twenty big brown birds with long 

 straight bills swept past me and alighted in the 

 grass just back from the shore. In great excite- 



