THE GODWITS 525 



laid in April. 1 In Poland, this species is said to breed in large 

 numbers in two marshes. They arrive in April when the snow 

 disappears : until the water leaves their nesting-places, they frequent 

 the edges of the marshes, and begin nesting operations, as a rule, 

 early in May. 2 



The bartailed, nesting as it does so much farther north, is later. 

 Mr. H. L. Popham found it fairly plentiful on the Yenisei between 

 69 N. and 72 >T. He found several nests with full clutches of eggs 

 on June 27th and July 3rd. The nests were very far apart, and being 

 only slight hollows in a vast expanse of high-lying tundra, were very 

 difficult to find. 3 This is quoted in Naumann, but the name of Lord 

 Lilford substituted for Mr. Popham, and the reference given Ibis, 1897 

 instead of 1907 ! 



The blacktailed nests, as a rule, in scattered parties almost 

 forming colonies and in very marshy places. The nests are placed 

 in the drier parts of the marshes, on tussocks or tiny islands sur- 

 rounded with water or quaking bog. 4 Naumann says they are partial 

 to places where the rough grass has been cut and the new crop 

 has not yet grown. The nest is a deep hollow, generally open and 

 unconcealed, but so deep that the eggs cannot be seen except from 

 almost directly above. 5 Mr. Chapman describes the nests found in 

 Jutland as mere depressions in the moss with no special lining. 6 

 Sonnemann, quoted by Naumann, says the nest is negligently lined 

 and untidy, and adds, that two hundred nests examined shows this 

 godwit to be a less careful builder than the curlew. 7 On the other 

 hand, Dr. L. Taczanowski, writing to Dresser, describes the nest as 

 a depression "three inches deep, carefully and neatly lined with 

 dry grass." These two descriptions indicate considerable variation 

 in different localities ; but the discrepancy may be due in part to 



1 Ibis, 1894, p. 340. * Dresser, Birds of Europe, viii. p. 216. 



3 Ibis, 1907, p. 105. 



4 Dresser, op. cit., viii. p. 216 ; Ibis, 1894, p. 340 ; Vogel Mitteleuropas, ix. p. 117. 



5 Vogel Mitteleuropas, ix. p. 117. 6 Ibis, 1894, p. 340. 

 7 Vogel Mitteleuropas, ix. p. 118. 



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