been supposed to breed here, and certainly nothing at all satis- 

 factory. Much confusion formerly existed between our two spe- 

 cies before the curious changes of plumage were known, and I 

 almost think some does still. Mr. Stevenson, in his " Norfolk 

 Birds," says he has never known one killed in June or July, 

 meaning the Common Godwit ; but just before he says a corres- 

 pondent of his saw some on May 9th, inland, which were tame, 

 and he hoped they might remain to breed. Could these be the 

 Black-Tailed species, which formerly did breed in England ? The 

 present species never did, and never will, although I have seen 

 the young of it the Common Godwit on its first arrival, with 

 some of the nest-down still adhering to it where the feathery 

 part of the leg joins the skin part ; this I have also seen in the 

 Pigmy Curlew, Sanderling, and Solitary Snipe. I think there 

 is a misprint in Mr. Stevenson's book respecting the date in this 

 species, where it states "on May 26, 1862, during a severe frost." 



Montagu seems to have considered Godwits of one species 

 only. His description under the head Godwit refers to both ; 

 but under the head " Yarwhip" he commences by saying it is 

 larger than the Godwit ; he must refer to the black-tailed spe- 

 cies, but the illustration evidently refers to the other species, a 

 young bird, as the tail is represented as very strongly barred 

 (edition 1831). 



Mr. Harting, in The Field of April 14, mentions the two spe- 

 cies in one paragraph. I think the ordinary reader will scarcely 

 understand which species he refers to when speaking of having 

 shot the young. 



Jerdon calls the Indian bird " Lesser Godwit." Now this is 

 wrong as it is evidently the black-tailed species which we see 

 sent from India ; and, besides this, his description relates to it, 

 and it is considerably larger than the Common Godwit. Both 

 these species have been often called Red Godwits, and even their 

 scientific names have been often mixed. Notwithstanding this, 

 they are most interesting birds, and time has enabled us to dis- 

 tinguish the species easily in all their changes of plumage. It 

 is quite probable the Common Godwit may be Asiatic, but not 

 migrate so far southwards as India, 



