222 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Key to the Genera. 



1. Toes with a small web at the base. Limosa. 

 Toes without any web. '2 



2. Bill the same length as the tarsus. 3 

 Bill longer than the tarsus. 4 



3. Tarsus equal to middle toe and claw. Limonites. 

 Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw. Heteroiiygia. 



4. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Triuga. 

 Tarsus shorter than the middle toe. Gallinago. 



Genus Limosa. 



Bill very long, inclined slightly upwards. First quill the 

 longest. Tarsus longer than the middle toe ; outer toe united 

 to the middle as far as the first joint by a membrane; hind toe 

 rather long. Almost cosmopolitan. 



The Godwit. — Kuaka. 

 Limosa novae-zealandiae. 



Above greyish brown. Over the tail white, barred with browu. Tail 

 white, barred with greyish brown. Throat brownish white, streaked 

 with darker. Breast rufous in spring, white in autumn. Abdomen white. 

 Shafts of the quills white. Length of wing, 9.5 in.; of the tarsus, 2.5 in. 

 Eastern Siberia, China, Malay Archipelago, to Australia, New Zealand, 

 and Polynesia. Migratory; common on sandy bays and estuaries in the 

 summer. 



A great deal has been already written about the godwits, and 

 several descriptions of tlieir remarkable journeys from the North 

 Polar regions to New Zealand have been published. They breed 

 in Eastern Siberia from June to the end of July, and then they 

 leave, passing through country after country, until they reach 

 these southern shores. In September, and again in April, they 

 are found in China, some of them passing the winter in the 

 island of Formosa. Others, in August or September, arrive from 

 the north in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the New 

 Hebrides, and depart again for the north early in May. 

 Stragglers go to Samoa and Tonga. Many of them arrive in New 

 Zealand in October, November, and December. They spread as 

 far south as Stewart Island, and leave at the end of April or the 

 beginning of May. Visits are also made to the Chatham Islands. 

 The godwits, hoAvever, have not been known to breed either in 



