SCOLOPACID.E. 



SCOLOPACIDJt. 



LlMOSA LAPPONICA (Linn86US*). 



THE BAK-TAILED GODWIT. 



Limosa rufa. 



THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT is in its habits in this country 

 somewhat similar to the Black-tailed Godwit last described, 

 but it has never been proved to have bred in any part of the 

 British Islands. The autumnal arrivals, consisting prin- 

 cipally of young buff-breasted birds which are at first very 

 tame, commence in August, and from that month until 

 November varying numbers may be found on the mud-flats 

 and estuaries of our coasts. The duration of their subse- 

 quent stay depends to some extent upon the weather, but, as 

 a rule, occurrences in the middle of winter are not very 

 numerous. In April a few birds make their appearance 

 from the south, but the bulk of the return migration is not 



* Scolopax lapponica, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 246 (1766). 



