191 



GODWITS. 



WITH the last we entered into a race of birds, 

 remarkable in the changes incident to the plumage 

 between the breeding season and winter. In the 

 genera which are now to follow, it is very dissimi- 

 lar, assuming in some, colours of bright chestnut- 

 red, mingled with deep black, in others of grey, also 

 decidedly marked with black and white. This dif- 

 ference in appearance has given rise to a varied 

 synonimy, and often to one species being described 

 as several distinct birds. The Godwits, Limosa, 

 frequent the open coasts during winter, and breed 

 in inland marshes, differing from the true snipes in 

 the habit of never frequenting or skulking among 

 cover of any kind, and of being extremely noisy 

 and vociferous when their nest or young is ap- 

 proached the change and colours of their plumage, 

 and their whole structure, adapted for an open, 

 partly maritime life, not for seeking their chief sus- 

 tenance by boring into soft marshes, and seizing 

 their slender and minute prey by the sense of touch 

 rather than that of sight. 



LIMOSA, Brisson. Generic characters. Bill very 

 long, strong at the base, compressed, bending 

 upwards; mandible smooth v rounded, slightly 

 dilated at the tip, projecting beyond the max- 

 illa; wings long, quills with the shafts very 

 strong, flattened, first longest ; legs long ; tibiae 



