400 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



soinely . . . and as they alighted held their wings straight over their backs 

 for a moment, the black shoulder straps showing in strong i-ontrast to the 

 warm cinnamon [of the wing which makes such a good recognition mark]. 



The nesting season of the Marbled Godwit begins earlier than 

 with most shore birds. This is in part probably due to the relatively 

 low latitudes of its breeding range. Eggs have been taken as early 

 as April 20, 1878, in Iowa, and young by June 8, 1820, in Nebraska 

 (Cooke, 1910, p. 51); while Bent (1907o, pp. 162-166), in south- 

 Avestern Saskatchewan, found nests on May 29, 1905, and downy 

 young, thought to have been not over a week old, on June 27, 1906. 

 The nesting season thus extends at least from the middle of April or 

 early May to the latter part of June. 



Tlie region chosen by the Godwits for nesting is one of rolling 

 or level prairie covered wath short dense grasses and liberally supplied 

 with small lakes and streams. Here the birds make their nests in the 

 open, without any attempt at concealment, usually in the near vicinity 

 of water. The nest is formed by treading down the grasses on the 

 selected site, and little or no material is carried in from the outside. 

 A typical nest measures six by seven inches in surface area and about 

 two inches in depth. The eggs have a ground color of deep or pale 

 olive, or creamy buff, and are either sparingly marked about the 

 larger end with superficial spots and small blotches of pale drab or 

 dark browns and deeper markings of lilac, or else they are heavily 

 spotted with dark brown and lilac gray (Bent, 1907a, pp. 162-164). 



While on the nest the demeanor of the birds is in marked contrast 

 to their behavior at other times of the year. The}^ sometimes appear 

 to be quite indifferent to human approach, and one bird studied by 

 Mr. Bent actually allowed him to raise her from the nest in order 

 that he might photograph the eggs. When off the nest their behavior 

 is less peculiar. 



Like all of the shore birds, the Marbled Godwit is exceedingly demonstra- 

 tive on its breeding grounds, flying out to meet the intruder as soon as he 

 appears, making fully as much fuss at a distance from its nest as near it, and 

 giving no clue to its exact location. The cries of one pair of birds often attract 

 others, and I have seen as many as eighteen birds flying about at one time in 

 an especially favorable locality. It shows no signs of fear at such times, often 

 alighting on the ground within ten or fifteen yards [of the observer], standing 

 for an instant with its beautifully marbled wings poised above it. . . . Even 

 while feeding on the shores of the lakes we could frequently walk up to 

 within a few yards of them . . . (Bent, 1907«. p. 165). 



The downy young Godwits are adepts in tlie art of hiding in the 

 scantiest kind of cover, and by reason of their streaked and mottled 

 coloration it is extremely difficult to find them. They develop rapidly 

 and soon gather into companies. The flocks of adults form as early 

 as June 27, and shortlj^ afterwards begin to depart southward, even 



