160 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



immersed clear to their e3^es. Morsels of food that were encountered 

 were passed rapidly up the length of the bill and SAvallowed. When 

 their movements carried them too near the stilts the latter hustled 

 them about, and made them run rapidly to escape their bills, but 

 in spite of this discouragement the godwits remained in as close 

 proximity as permitted to their belligerent neighbors perhaps because 

 of similarity in feeding habit. Some Hudsonian godwit gave a 

 low chattering call when flushed, a low qua qua that resembled one 

 of the notes of L. fedoa. As they extend the wings to fly the dark 

 axilla rs show as a patch of black and in flight the white tail, with 

 black band across the tip, is prominent. The birds are hunted to 

 such an extent that they were exceedingly wary. When opportunity 

 offered I took only a few for specimens. 



A male shot March 7 is in full w^inter plumage with worn pri- 

 maries but newly grown tail feathers and lesser wing coverts. Two 

 females shot March 8 have renewed the flight feathers and tail and 

 have the breeding plumage growing rapidly on the body. 



Reports that the Hudsonian godwit nest in the Southern Hemis- 

 phere are without foundation and the presence of large flocks in 

 eastern Buenos Aires as early in the season as July 2, as recorded by 

 Gibson,^® may be explained only by considering them possible early 

 migrants or by supposing that many did not breed each year, as from 

 my own experience I know to be the case with some other shore birds, 

 and that flocks of these nonbreeders may have failed to migrate 

 northward. It may be added that Gibson's records of the birds in 

 large flocks, though no year is given, must refer to his early ob- 

 servations, since the species has been rare for many years. 



On my first day afield in Argentina, on June 29, 1920, a holiday 

 when dozens of gunners were along the Rio de la Plata, near Beraza- 

 tegui, Buenos Aires, I am satisfied that I saw a Hudsonian godwit 

 in the hands of a gunner but circumstances were such that I could 

 not secure or handle the bird. It was a specimen in full winter 

 plumage. 



The passing of this fine bird must be a cause for regret among 

 sportsmen and nature lovers alike, to be attributed to the greed of 

 gunners and to the fact that its large size and gregarious habit 

 made it desirable to secure and when opportunity offered easy to kill 

 in large numbers. There is little hope even under the most rigorous 

 protection that the species can regain its former numbers. It would 

 appear that the small number that remain winter mainly in Patago- 

 nia, as the species was encountered in any number only when in 

 migration from that region, 



=»Ibis, 1920, p. 70. 



