BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. l8l 



in strong relief. The adult winter plumage which is partly assumed before the 

 birds leave, is characterized by an unspotted pearl gray back, as well as by the 

 white throat. 



On September nth, 1903, Mr. F. H. Allen ^ found in a gunner's bag, at 

 Ipswich Beach, a Sanderling with rudimentary hind toes. The bird was one 

 of eleven shot in his presence, none of the others having this peculiarity. The 

 hind toes are about 0.05 of an inch in length and have no claws. As Mr. Allen 

 suggests, it is probably a case of reversion. Mr. Allen kindly gave the specimen 

 to me and it is now in my collection. 



Sanderlings are easily distinguished by their general grayness and by the 

 white line on the wings at the junction of the remiges and the wing coverts. 

 The red throats of the nuptial plumage look black except in a good light. 



Ill [249] Limosa fedoa (Linn.). 

 Marbled Godwit ; Brown Marlin. 



Accidental transient visitor. 



There is one specimen of this bird in the collection of the Peabody Academy, 

 labeled female, 1868, Essex County. Maynard- records that H. B. Farley shot 

 one at Ipswich, July 17th, 1869. Mr. T. C. Wilson tells me he shot one in the 

 marsh near the mouth of the Ipswich River, about 1873, and although he follows 

 the shooting most carefully every year, he has not seen or heard of one since. 

 I am, however, through Mr. J. H. Hardy, Jr., able to give a recent record, namely, 

 of one shot by Mr. S. J. P. Eaton at Newburyport, on September 5th, 1904. 

 This bird is now in my collection. 



112 [251] Limosa haemastica (Linn.). 

 HuDSONiAN Godwit; "Black-tail." 



Rare autumn transient visitor ; August 29 to October 22 (November 7). 



I have not known of this Godwit being seen in the spring, at which season 

 it follows, I believe, the Mississippi Valley route. It prefers the sloughs of the 



' F. H. Allen: Auk, vol. 21, p. 79, 1904. 



''C. J. Maynard: The Naturalist's Guide, p. 142, 1870. 



