GREAT MARBLED GODWIT. 325 



proached without some such manoeuvre. They are much less numerous 

 than the Short-billed Curlews, with whom, however, they not unfre- 

 quently associate. They are found among the salt marshes in May, 

 and for some time in June, and also on their return in October and No- 

 vember ; at which last season they are usually fat, and in high esteem 

 for the table. 



The female of this bird having been described by several writers as a 

 distinct species from the male, it has been thought proper to figure the 

 former ; the chief difference consists in the undulating bars of black 

 with which the breast of the male is marked, and which are wanting in 

 the female. 



The male of the Great Marbled Godwit is nineteen inches long, and 

 thirty-four inches in extent ; the bill is nearly six inches in length, a 

 little turned up towards the extremity, where it is black, the base is of 

 a pale purplish flesh color ; chin and upper part of the throat whitish ; 

 head and neck mottled with dusky brown and black on a ferruginous 

 ground ; breast barred with wavy lines of black ; back and scapulars 

 black, marbled with pale brown ; rump and tail-coverts of a very light 

 brown, barred with dark brown ; tail even, except the two middle fea- 

 thers, which are a little the longest ; wings pale ferruginous, elegantly 

 marbled with dark brown, the four first primaries black on the outer 

 edge ; whole lining and lower parts of the wings bright ferruginous ; 

 belly and vent light rust color, with a tinge of lake. 



The female differs in wanting the bars of black on the breast. The 

 bill does not acquire its full length before the third year. 



About fifty different species of the Scolopax genus are enumerated 

 by naturalists. These are again by some separated into three classes 

 or sub-genera, viz. : the straight-billed, or Snipes ; those with bills bent 

 downwards, or the Curlews ; and those whose bills are slightly turned 

 upwards, or Godwits. The whole are a shy, timid and solitary tribe, 

 frequenting those vast marshes, swamps and morasses, that frequently 

 prevail in the vicinity of the ocean, and on the borders of large rivers. 

 They are also generally migratory, on account of the periodical freezing 

 of those places in the northern regions where they procure their food. 

 The Godwits are particularly fond of salt marshes ; and are rarely 

 found in countries remote from the sea. 



