682 scoLOPAcnm 



Limosa melanura, Black-tailed Oodwit, SELBY,Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 94. 

 JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 203. 



GOULD, Birds of Europe. 



Barge a queue noir, TEMM. Man. d' Ornith. vol. ii. 



p. 664. 



LIMOSA. Generic Characters. Bill very long, rather thick at the base, 

 compressed, slightly curved upwards ; both mandibles grooved laterally 

 to within a short distance of the point, which is somewhat dilated and 

 blunt ; tip of the upper mandible projecting beyond the lower one. 

 Nostrils basal, placed in the lateral groove, narrow and longitudinal. 

 Wings pointed, of moderate length, the first quill-feather the longest. 

 Legs long and slender, a great part of the tibia naked. Feet four-toed, 

 three in front, one behind ; the outer toe united by a membrane to the 

 middle toe as far as the first joint, the inner toe nearly free ; hind toe 

 short, and articulated upon the tarsus. 



GODWITS, of which in Britain there are two species, 

 appear to have been more common formerly than they are 

 at present. Sir Thomas Browne, when writing some of his 

 Notes on Natural History, two hundred years ago, says, 

 " Godwits are taken chiefly in marsh-land, though other 

 parts are not without them : they are accounted the 

 daintiest dish in England." This bird was considered an 

 article of luxury in Ben Jonson's time. 



" Your eating 



Pheasant and Oodwit here in London, haunting 

 The Globes and Mermaids ; wedging in with lords 

 Still at the table." 



Dev. an Ass, iii. 3. 



And Thomas Muifet, that " ever famous doctor in phy- 

 sick," as he is called in his title-page, says in Health's 

 Improvement, page 99, " but a fat Godwit is so fine and 

 light meat, that noblemen, yea, and merchants too, by 

 your leave, stick not to buy them at four nobles a dozen." 

 Nares's Glossary. 



It is still the practice of some of the fen-men in Lincoln- 

 shire to fat a few Godwits on bread and milk with the 

 Ruffs as formerly, when they happen to catch any, and I 



