344 



LiMOSA*, Bechst. 



The Godwnts have a straight bill, longer than that of the Snipes, and 

 sometimes even slightly arcuated near the top. The nasal groove ex- 

 tends close to the tip, which is blunt and somewhat depressed; no third 

 groove or punctation on its surface. The external toes are palmated at 

 the base. Their form is more slender, and their legs longer than those 

 of Snipes; they frequent salt marshes and the sea-shore. 



Scol. leucophcea, Lath., and laponica, Gm. ; Barge ahoyeuse ; the 

 young, Brit. Zool. pi. xiii; Briss. V, pi. xxiv, f. 2; the adult in 

 summer plumage, Enl. 900 f . (The Common Godwit). In winter, 

 a deep brown-grey, the feathers edged with white; the breast, a 

 brown-grey; whitish above; rump wOiite, striped with brown, &c. 

 In summer it is red, with a brown back. The tail is always striped 

 with white and black. 



Scol. cegocephala and belgiea, Gm.; Limosa melanura, Ijeisler ; 

 in winter plumage, Enl. 874; in that of summer, lb. 916. (The 

 Black-tailed Godwit). In winter a cinereous g^rey, browner on the 

 back; white belly; in summer, head, neck, and breast, red; the 

 mantle, brown spotted with red; beneath, striped with brown, red 

 and white bands; tail always black, edged with white at the tip. 

 These two birds are double the size of the Woodcock, and their 

 changes of plumage have occasioned various multiplications of the 

 species. The last, during the summer, covers the plains of northern 

 Holland. Its cry is very shrill, and resembles that of a goat J. 



Calidris||, Cuv. — Tringa, Temm. 



The bill of the Sandpipers is depressed at the end, and the nasal fossae 

 are very long, as in the Godwits, but this bill is not usually longer than 

 the head; their slightly bordered toes have no membranes at their base, 

 and their thumb can hardly reach the ground ; their moderately long legs 

 and short figure give them a heavier carriage than that of the Godwits. 

 They are also much smaller. 



Trinqa grisea, Tr. cinerea, and Tr. canutus, Gm. ; La Maubeche, 

 Enl. 366; Edw. 276; Wils. VII, Ivii, 2; the Sandpiper and 

 Canute of the English. Winter plumage, ash-coloured above, white 

 beneath, with blackish spots on the front of the neck and breast. 

 In its summer livery, Tr. islandica, Gm., or Tr. rufa, Wils. VII, 



* Vieillot has changed this name into Limicula, Gal. 243. 



t Gmelin has made the young of this hird a variety of the following species, and 

 quotes the fig. of Brisson, by the name of Sc I. f^lott'.s, which is a Ruff. The adult 

 is his Scol. Inpoiiha. The l/mio.in Meyeri, Leisl. and Temm., is this species in its 

 winter livery, and Lim. rufa, the same in its summer plumage. 



X Add, Srol. fedon, L. ; Wils. VII, pi. Ivi, 4, or the Barge marhree, Limicula mar- 

 morata, Vieill. Galer. 243. We might distinguish the .Scol. tereh, or Sc. cinerea, Gm. ; 

 Guldenst., Nov. Act. Petrop. XIX, pi. xix, whose bill is curved upwards, and whose 

 feet are semi-palmated. It leads to the Recur' iros/res. 



11 Calidris, " an ash-coloured and spotted bird, frequenting rivers and woods," 

 Aristotle. Brisson has applied it to the Great Sandpiper. 



