650 



GOD VV I T. 



scapulars, are of a black colour, cross barred and 

 , more or less margined with brown. The wing coverts 

 are brown, the lesser ones having white margins ; the 

 quills are dusky brownish black with white at their 

 bases. A streak of a dull whitish colour passes over 

 the eye, below this the cheeks, throat, fore neck, and 

 breast, are pale reddish brown, and all the rest of the 

 under part pure white ; such is the black-tailed god- 

 wit in its nuptial attire. .In winter, however, its 

 colours change so much that we ought not perhaps to 

 blame those who, before the habits of birds were so 

 well known as they are now, called it by another 

 name, and described it as a different species. In 

 winter, the whole of the reddish brown on the fore 

 part of the bird fades into pure white ; the brown on 

 the upper part becomes pale grey, and the black 

 ., dusky brown ; even the flying feathers of the wings 

 become dusky or brownish, which is not the case in 

 many of those birds which otherwise change their 

 colour entirely with the seasons. Even the black in 

 the tail fades considerably at this time ; but it still 

 maintains as much depth as to preserve the character 

 of the bird. The black-tailed godwit is about seven- 

 teen inches in length, and three quarters of a pound 

 in weight when in good condition, but the individuals 

 vary in size and weight at different times of the 

 year. 



As noticed formerly of the genus, the black-tailed 

 godwit is an exceedingly shy and hiding bird. It is 

 all day in the tall herbage ; and as it nestles and 

 hides itself in the tufts and hummocks of the sludgy 

 parts of the fens, it is very rarely seen in proportion 

 to its numbers ; and those numbers do not appear to 

 be great, neither is the bird much distributed over 

 the country. In north Holland it is by no means a 

 rare bird, and it is probable that of those which ap- 

 pear in the fen districts of England during the winter 

 the greater part come across from Holland ; for, 

 though this species is by no means a very discursive 

 bird, or much given to migrate, the distance from 

 Holland to Norfolk is not long for a flying creature , 

 and the wind may often bring those to England which 

 are shifting their grounds as the marshes of Holland 

 begin to freeze, just in the same manner as that wind 

 helps the birds of Siberia in an occasional visit to our 

 shores. These birds breed inland in the fens, their 

 nests are hidden, and the eggs, which are very rarely 

 seen, are four in number. The young of the year 

 have the plumage much more dingy and mottled than 

 the old birds, so that they have occasionally been 

 described as a distinct species. Indeed so long as 

 colour was made a principal specific distinction among 

 those long-billed fen birds, there was no determining 

 how many there were ; for summer and winter, young 

 and old, and in some cases male and female, all had 

 sufficient difference to mark them in this way. We 

 shall offer some general remarks on these birds, and 

 their localities and movements, in a general article 



LONGIROSTRES. 



THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT (Limosa ntfa) is the 

 only other species which has been observed in Eng- 

 land ; and it is known only as a winter visitant. 

 Even as such it is very capricious, appearing some 

 years in considerable numbers, and in other years 

 scarcely at all. It is generally said that this species 

 comes most abundantly in those seasons when the 

 other is rarest. This fact, which wants further con- 

 firmation before we can implicitly rely on it, might 

 lead to something important in the distinction of the 



two, respecting the causes why they migrate ; because 

 it would imply that a different kind of season drives 

 each species from its continental haunts. 



The bar-tailed godwit has its permanent characters 

 in the same parts of the body as the black-tailed one. 

 Its bill is considerably more curved, although even it 

 has not a very great curvature, at least nothing com- 

 pared to that of the avocet The tail is throughout 

 its length white in the ground colour, and regularly 

 cross-barred with black, The tarsi are also shorter 

 in proportion ; and there are considerable differences 

 in the tints of the plumage, although in this respect 

 there is still a good deal of resemblance. In the 

 summer plumage, the reddish brown on the head is 

 more entire, and there is more reddish brown on the 

 back. The summer tint of the fore neck and breast 

 is also a more lively red ; and there is no white on 

 the bases of the quills. In winter the general plum- 

 age becomes greyish, and the red-brown on the breast 

 fades to a greyish white. In this state, however, it is 

 easily distinguished from the black-tailed species. 

 The young of the year are entirely white on the 

 under part, except the fore neck, which is mottled 

 with greyish. The upper part is mottled with brown 

 and greyish white, and the black bars on the tail are 

 much smaller, and not nearly so well made out. In 

 this state a random individual sometimes comes to our 

 eastern shores about the middle of autumn. These 

 are smaller in size than the mature ones, and have 

 been described as the cinereous or .ash-coloured god- 

 wit, of which Bewick gives a very faithful represen- 

 tation. 



We have been thus particular in pointing out the 

 distinctions between those two species of birds, and 

 the various changes of plumage in each, not only for 

 the purpose of so far correcting the pointed blunders 

 which are in circulation respecting them, but because 

 they are among the most curious of our fen birds ; 

 therefore information is desirable to those who have 

 the opportunity of examining the fenny districts per- 

 sonally, which, of course, are those on the spot, and 

 familiar with fen travelling. To ordinary persons, 

 how zealous soever they may be in matters f natural 

 history, there is a sort of taboo upon the fens ; for he 

 who could set at perfect defiance the briars and 

 brambles of a common, the heath of a mountain, or 

 esenthe ocean surges themselves, would hesitate a 

 little to advance on concealed ground, where the 

 very next step might plunge him neck deep in sludge 

 as black as Styx. 



GREAT MARBLED GODWIT (L.fcdoa) This is an 

 American species ; and, as Wilson's description of it 

 is the best, we shall quote from it as much as we deem 

 nece-ssary for our purpose. " This bird," says Wil- 

 son, " is a transient visitant of our sea-coasts in 

 spring and autumn, to and from its breeding place in 

 the north. Our gunners call it the straight-billed 

 curlew, and sometimes the red cuilew. It is a shy, 

 cautious, and watchful bird ; yet so strongly are they 

 attached to each other, that, on wounding one in a 

 flock, the rest are immediately arrested in their flight, 

 making so many circuits over the spot where it lies, 

 fluttering and screaming, that the sportsman often 

 makes great destruction among them. Like the cur- 

 lew, they may also be enticed within shot, by imitat- 

 ing their call orwhistle ; but can seldom be approached 

 without some manoeuvre. They are much less 

 numerous than the short-billed curlews, with whom, 

 however, they not unfrequently associate. They are 



