BEACH BIRDS. 1 69 



ground or water when shot in the fall. This is the result of 

 their great fatness, and the bursting is called skinning — the bird a 

 skinner. 



Limosa fedoa. — Ord. Great Marbled Godwit. Marlin. Humility. 



Found in the United States, and breeding to the north, although 

 a few remain with us for that purpose. They are quickly distin- 

 guished among the thousands of birds that throng the shores of 

 our Atlantic seaboard by their large size and coloration. General 

 plumage rufous or cinnamon-brown, above variegated with black, 

 brown and grey, bill from four to five inches in length, flesh-color- 

 ed, and tipped with black. This Godwit, commonly called " Mar- 

 lin," is becoming scarcer every year. It is a veiy noisy bird, and 

 has an odd shrill cry that sounds like "gruito " rapidly repeated ; 

 they are very strong on the wing, and feed in bogs and marshes 

 near the sea shore, have four eggs, and are very delicious as a 

 table bird. 



Limosa hudsonica. — Swainson. Hudsonian Godwit. White-tailed Marlin. 

 Humility. 



Colored as follows : Tail black, largely white at the base ; under 

 parts in the breeding season intense rufous, variegated with dusky, 

 head, neck, and upper parts brownish black, variegated with grey, 

 reddish and sometimes whitish speckling, young and winter plum- 

 age of the adult, grey and pale, with less of the ruddy tinge. This 

 is a more northerly inhabitant of the continent than the last, and 

 not so abundant ; it is also smaller than the other Godwits. 



Totanus semipalmatus. — Temm. VVillet. Semipalmated Tattler. 



To gunners this is a widely known species, being found in 

 great plenty along our sea coast and in the marshes. They may 

 be called residents of the United States. Being a large bird they 

 are shot extensively, but as a table bird are not highly esteemed. 

 The bird in summer is grey above with numerous black markings, 

 below white, throat, breast and sides streaked and marked with 

 dusky. In winter these markings are lacking, and the bird is of 

 a general ashy grey color. The legs are large and strong, the 

 toes semipalmated. 

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