AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 47 



Upper blackish-brown much marked and spotted buff; 

 under, line past eye buff; arched bill 1.7in. Insects, 

 worms. 

 2 96 Barred-rum ped Godwit (Pacific), Kuaka, Limosa, 

 5 novae-zealandiae (lapponica, Am.O.U.), Alaska, Cali- 



fornia; E. Sib. to A., T., N.Z., Oceania =vt. Eur. 

 Barred-tailed Godwit Mig. c. shores 15 



Upper brownish-gray marked whitish; rump, tail barred 

 brown, white; abdomen white; legs brownish-black; 

 broad, indistinct whitish eyebrow; bill long, slightly up- 

 turned; f., larger. Shellfish, worms, sand-hoppers. 

 97 Black-tailed Godwit, L. limosa, Br. Eur., N. Air., India, 

 E. Sib., Japan to A., Greenland (ace), may be a dis- 

 tinct species than called L. melanuroides. 



Mig. v.r. shallow lakes 16 

 Upper grayish-brown; wing white band flying; lower-back 

 blackish-brown; upper base tail white; tail black, white 

 at side at base; neck, breast, flanks grayish-brown; 

 abdomen white; bill long, slightly upturned; f., larger. 

 Insects, pond snails, worms. 



1 98 Common Sandpiper, Summer Snipe, Tringoides hypo- 



2 leucus, Eur. (Br.), N. Asia, Afr., Ind., to A. (ace). 



Mig. u. shores, lakes 8 

 Upper pale-brown marked darker; wing-quills slightly 

 tipped white; centre tail feathers glossy-brown, side 

 feathers white barred brown; under white; chest 

 marked pale-brown; indistinct pale eyebrow; tail con- 

 stantly jerked; f., sim. Water-insects, shellfish. 

 1 99 Greenshank, Glottis nebularius, Br., Eastern hemi- 

 1 sphere, Florida (ace). Mig. r. shores, lakes 14 



Face, under, tail white; sides of breast streaked brown; 

 edge of tail barred freckled brown; crown, hind-neck 

 gray; wings dark-brown; upper light-brown; legs deep 

 olive-green; f., sim. Shellfish, worms. 



in the Lady of the Lake, when Fitz James found the hillside alive 

 with Roderick Dhu's warriors. 



The White-headed Stilt, or Long-legged Plover, is one of five 

 species spread throughout the world. Some people have pre- 

 tended to pity the Stilt for being one of Nature's misfits, but 

 surely they never saw the bird in a state of nature enjoying life, 

 and gaining an easy living on shallow tidal flats, its long legs 

 being a beautiful adaptation to the environment in which it lives. 



The Banded Stilt is a purely Australian bird, and has no repre- 

 sentative in other countries. These and some other shore-birds 

 live about tidal flats, and get their food in the soft mud. Their 

 long bill is often flexible, and the tip is sometimes well supplied 

 with nerves, so that it is sensitive. The bird can thus detect, in 

 the soft mud, any animal that would serve for food. It can then 

 open its bill enough to catch the animal without trouble. The 

 Avocet's bill is sharply curved upwards, and is one of the most 



