310 Mr. A. C. Chapman on the 



Ruff^ Avocet, and others^ and we were not disappointed with 

 the results of our trip. 



A glance at a map of West Jutland will show that it is 

 broken up into fiords and marine inlets, communicating with 

 the sluggish rivers flowing from the flat interior. In some 

 cases the junctions of these rivers with the sea form soft 

 marshes, rushy lagoons, and areas of shallow brackish water, 

 more or less studded with islets and promontories overgrown 

 with salt-grass, far removed from the ordinary haunts of 

 man, and therefore highly suitable for the nurseries of 

 aquatic fowl. The marshes, as distinct from the islets and 

 salt-grass promontories, are areas of squashy moss, grass, 

 rush, and bog-plants interwoven one with another, difficult, if 

 not dangerous, to explore ; but in most cases there are creeks 

 of water which intersect these marshes in various directions 

 and enable a flat-bottomed boat to be pushed about so as 

 to give access to their interiors. Then it becomes necessary, 

 in the search for eggs, to traverse on foot their squashy 

 surfaces, where, at every step, the ground quakes for yards 

 around in most unpleasant fashion and the water oozes out of 

 the moss well over one's boot-tops. Such are the places most 

 loved by the Black-tailed Godwit {Limosa agocephala) , and 

 on approaching, the wailing cry will soon be followed by the 

 appearance of a bird high in air. That bird has left its nest 

 perhaps a thousand yards ahead, nor will it usually return 

 thereto until it has made itself pretty confident that the 

 danger has disappeared. To find the nest is therefore no 

 easy matter ; indeed, after considerable experience, I may 

 say that fcAV birds are so cautious at their nests as God wits, 

 and even when the nest has, after long search, been luckily 

 discovered, still the old birds never come within range of 

 ordinary gunshot. The general cry of these Waders, when 

 not distressed, may be syllabled as " tii-ee-tooo," often 

 repeated, but they have a variety of cries, their distress-call 

 being a clamorous wail, not unlike that of a Common Buz- 

 zard, though, of course, not so loud. The date of laying 

 seems to vary considerably, for on May 10th we found our 

 first nest, containing four very hard-set eggs, which must 



