130 NOTES ON THE 



are soon gone afterwards. An individual I obtained in July- 

 suggests the possibility of a few breeding here. All prejudged 

 conclusions as to the breeding limits of species are valueless. 

 And when emanating from persons assuming to be authori 

 ties in the matter they are often unjust to earnest, ambitious 

 young naturalists by reflecting shadows of doubt upon their 

 best work. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



No hina toe; front toes moderate or rather long, flattened 

 underneath; distinctly margined with a membrane; bill rather 

 longer than the head, straight, rather thick; ridge of upper 

 mandible flattened; nasal groove deep and nearly as long as the 

 upper mandible, not so distinct in the lower; both mandibles 

 widened and flattened at the tip; aperture of* the nostril large 

 and covered with a membrane; wing long; tail short, with the 

 middle feathers longest; under coverts as long as the tail; legs 

 moderate; lower third of the tibia naked; upper parts light 

 ashy with lanceolate, hastate and ovate spots of brownish black 

 on top of the head, on the back, scapulars and shorter quills; 

 rump and upper tail coverts with fine transverse lines of black; 

 under parts pure white; shoulders brownish-black without 

 spots; quills brownish black with their shafts white and much 

 paler on the inner webs; greater wing coverts widely tipped 

 with white; middle feathers of tail ashy-brown, edged with 

 white; outer feathers paler; bill and legs greenish-black; sexes 

 alike; iris brown. 



Length, 8; wing, 5; tail, 2; bill, 1; tarsus, 1. 



Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan. 



LIMOSA FEDOA (L.). (249.) 

 MARBLED GODWIT. 



Fairly common . for a few days in early May, these larger 

 birds of the Scolopacidae family are with us but a short time in 

 their migrations, especially in the spring. They are already 

 paired when they come in most cases, and are seldom found in 

 anything like flocks at this time, but when they return about 

 the 15th of August, or the 20th, as occurs more frequently per- 

 haps, they are generally in parties of five or six, rarely more. 

 They remain in autumn until the 20th of September if no severe 

 frosts appear, in which case they are all gone the next morn- 

 ing early, taking to wiag before the dawn. Specimens were 

 not uncommon in the shops and private cabinets of St. Paul 

 thirty years ago, and may still be found as common in the 

 museums of the academies and educational institutions from 

 the State University through. It is somewhat irregular in 



