SCOLOFACIDjE : GOD WITS. 636 



roacliing nearly to end of bill ; symphyseal groove less extended. Gape of mouth moderate, 

 scarcely cleft beyond base of culuien, as in Snipes and Sandpipers, not as usual among Tattlers. 

 Wing long and pointed ; tail short and square. Tibia denuded below for a moderate space. 

 Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, .scutellate before and beliiud, reticulate on sides. Toes 

 short and stout, much flattened underneath, and widely margined; outer and middle semi- 

 palmate, inner and middle with a slight web. Size large; general aspect curlew-like, but 

 bill recurved, not decurved. In character of bill approaching Snipes, especially Macrorhamplms, 

 to which it is nearly related in some other respects, as seasonal changes of plumage of most 

 species. Sexes similar. Two N. Am. species, and two others, occurriug in Ahiska au'* 

 Greenland, from Asia and Europe. 



Analysis of Species. 



Rump, tail and ita upper coverts barred thronghout with blackish and rufous. Lining of wings chestnut. 

 No extensive barring on under parts. No great seasonal changes of plumage ? Feathers not extend- 

 ing on side of under mandible far beyond those on upper fmla 628 



Rump, tail, and its upper coverts barred throughout with white and black. Lining of wings and axillars 



white, with dusky marks uropygialis 631 



Rump blackish, upper tail-coverts mostly white, tail black with white base and tip. Under parts in 

 summer intense ferruginous, barred throughout. Lining of wings mostly blackish. Feathers extend- 

 ing on side of lower mandible to a point beyond those on upper luemastica 629 



Similar to L. hwmastica; rump, tail audits coverts substantially the same. Lining of wings and axillars 



white agocephcda 630 



628. li. foe'da. (Lat. fceda, ugly, ungainly, unseemly. Fig. 442.) Great Marbled God wit. 

 Marlin. Feathers not extending on side of lower mandible to a point far beyond those on upper. 

 No white anywhere; rump, tail, and its coverts barred 

 throughout with blackish and the body-color. Lining 

 of wings chestnut ; axillars the same, more or less 

 barred with black. General color rufous or light dull 

 cinnamon-red, uniform and nearly uninterrupted on 

 all the under parts, richer and more chestnut on the 

 lining of the wings and axillars ; somewhat marked 

 with dusky on the sides of the breast and body ; on 

 the whole upper parts variegated with the brownish - 

 black central field of each feather, the blackish jire- 

 dominating, leaving the rufous chiefly as scallops and 

 tips of the feathers. This rufous very variable in in- 

 tensity ; usually paler on upper than on under parts, 

 and strongest under the wings. Primaries rufous, 

 successively darkening from last to first, the outer 

 webs and ends of the few outer ones blackish, the FiG.442.—Godwit, greatly reduced. (From 

 shaft of the first white. Bill livid flesh-colored, Tenney, after Audubon.) 

 blackish on about terminal third; legs ashy-blackish. Large: length 16.00-22.00 inches; 

 extent 30.00-40.00 ; wing somewhere about 9.00 ; tail 3.00-4.00 ; bill 3.50-5.50, generally 

 about 4.00 ; tarsus 3.00, more or less ; middle toe and claw 1.50 ; few birds vary more in 

 size. Sexes not distinguishable; no ashy and whitish plumage known. Temperate N. Am. ; 

 the largest of the "bay-birds" excepting the hmg-billed curlew; conspicuous by its size and 

 red color among the waders that throng tlie shores and muddy or sandy bars of bays and 

 estuaries during the migration. Known to breed chiefly in the upper Mississippi and Eastern 

 Missouri regions, in Iowa, Minnesota, and Dakota, to the Saskatchewan ; does not appear to 

 go far along the Atlantic coast northward. Nests anywhere on the prairie, not necessarily 

 near water ; eggs 3-4, about 2.28 X 1.60, light olive-drab, numerously but not very boldly 

 sjxitted witli various umber-brown .shades, and the usual stcme-gray shell-spots. 



6^9. l<. haemas'tica. (Gr. at>ao-rt/co'f, haimastikos, of bloody-red color.) Hudsonian Godwit. 



