22 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



" Many of those birds that frequent the marshes are annoyed 

 by insects which intrude themselves under the feathers — par- 

 ticularly under the wings. The Willet seems to be a favorite 

 bird for those tormentors to quarter upon — so much so, that I 

 have frequently supposed that I had performed an act of kind- 

 ness by shooting it." 



No. 7/ The Marlin — Genus Limosa ; Briss. Godwit. 



" Bill very Jong, a little recurved from the middle — rather slen- 

 der, thicker at the base ; lower mandible shorter ; head mode- 

 rate ; neck rather long ; wings long, veiy acute ; tail short, 

 even ; legs long ; toes four, rather slender — hind toe small, mid- 

 dle toe longest, anterior toes connected at the base by webs, the 

 outer web much larger. 



Limosa Fedoa ; Linn. — Great Marbled Godwit. 



Great Marbled Godwit, Scolopax Fedoa, Wils. Limosa Fedoa, Bonap. Syn. 

 Limosa Fedoa, Great Marbled Godwit, Sw. &. Rich. Great Marbled God- 

 wit, Nutt. Man. Great Marbled Godwit, Limosa Fedoa, And. 



"Specific Character. — Bill at base yellow, toward the end black- 

 ish brown ; upper parts spotted and barred with yellowish grey, 

 and brownish-black ; lower parts pale reddish-brown ; tail 

 darker, barred with black. Adult male with the bill at the base 

 yellowish-brown, toward the end black ; head and neck gray- 

 ish-brown, tinged with pale-reddish, streaked with dusky — 

 darker on the upper part of the head, and hind neck ; throat 

 whitish ; lower parts pale reddish-brown ; under tail coverts 

 barred with brown ; tail reddish-brown, barred with dusky ; up- 

 per tail coverts the same ; upper parts barred with brownish- 

 black, and pale reddish-brown, spotted with dusky ; inner pri- 

 maries tipped with yellowish-white ; scapulars and wing co- 

 verts barred with pale reddish-browTi, and grayish-white ; shaft 

 of the fii'st primary white, dusky at the tip ; inner shafts at the 

 base white, rest part light-brown, excepting the tips, which are 

 dusky. Length sixteen inches, wing nine and a half Female 

 larger, exceeding the male from three to four inches. 



