THE GODWIT. 243 



year,) it seeks the salt marshes and the sandy shores by 

 the sea-side, which for a great space are uncovered at 

 tlie ebbing of the tide, wliere it walks like the curlew, 

 and feeds upon the insects which there abound. 



This bird is rather bigger than the woodcock, being 

 in length from sixteen to eigliteen inches, and between 

 the tips of the extended wings twenty-eight inches 

 broad. The weight is twelve ounces, the bill is four inches 

 long, bending a little upwards, black at the point, 

 gradually softening into a pale purple toward the base ; 

 the under mandible the shortest ; the tongue sharp, the 

 nostrils oblong, and the ears large. A whitish streak 

 passes from the bill to the eye; the head, neck, and 

 upper parts of a dingy reddish brown, each feather 

 marked doAvn the middle "with a dark spot. The fore 

 part of the breast is streaked with black ; in the female 

 the throat and neck are grey or ash-coloured ; the belly,, 

 vent, and tail are white, the latter regularly barred with 

 black ; the six prime quill feathers are black, edged on 

 the interior sides with reddish brown. In some birds 

 the rump is white and the chin nearly so ; the legs are 

 not very long, naked to the middle of the second joint, 

 and are generally dark coloured, inclining to a greenish 

 blue. The godwit is met with in various parts of the 

 continent of Europe and Asia, as well as in America : 

 at Hudson's Bay the red godwit, in particular, is so 

 plentiful that Mr. Atkinson, loDg resident at York Fort, 

 killed seventy-two at a shot. 



