MARBLED GODWIT {Limosa fedoa). 

 The Godwits are among the largest and most 

 highly prized of shore birds, the present spe- 

 cies measuring about iS in. in length, includ- 

 ing the long up-curved bill. They breed in 

 the interior from Saskatchewan south to 

 North Dakota and winter from the Gulf 

 coast and Lower California southward. 

 They only casually occur on either the At- 

 lantic or Pacific coasts during migration. 

 Their three or four creamy-buff eggs, spotted 

 with yellowish-brown, are laid in scantily 

 lined depressions on the ground in the vicin- 

 ity of water; as usual with birds of this 

 order, the eggs are pear-shaped and very 

 large compared with the body of the bird. 



They are highly prized for the table and 

 eagerly hunted whenever they appear on the 

 marshes; ordinarily, they are rather shy, but 

 since they come to imitations of their calls 

 and to decoys stuck up in the mud, their shy- 

 ness does not avail them. They are com- 

 monly known as " Brown Marlins" or 

 "Spike-bills." 



HUDSONIAN GODWIT (Limosa ham- 

 astica). A smaller species than the last, 

 measuring about 16 in. in length; in winter 

 plumaged in gray and white, but in summer 

 brightly colored as shown. Notice that this 

 species has a white rump, while the last has 

 not. Hudsonian Godwits, otherwise known 

 as "Ring-tailed Marlins," "Black-tails" and "White-rumps," breed in Arctic 

 regions. Their fall migration is performed chiefly off the Atlantic coast, 

 leaving land at Newfoundland and not stopping this side of the West Indies 

 on their route to southern South America, unless blown from their course, 

 when they occur on New England and Long Island shores. Returning, their 

 course lies chiefly up the Mississippi Valley to their nesting grounds. Their 

 line of flight is almost precisely the same as that taken by the Eskimo Curlew, 

 which is now practically extinct. 



PACIFIC GODWITS {Limosa lapponica baueri), which are similar in 

 size to the Marbled, breed in western Alaska and migrate through Japan and 

 eastern Asia. They have no barring below, otherwise not differing greatly 

 from Marbled Godwits. 





MARBLED GODWIT 

 HUDSONIAN GODWIT 



36 



