BAK-T AILED GOD WIT 



Flight. The Bar-tailed Godwit rises from the slob with 

 a comparatively slow and measured flight, which contrasts 

 with that of many other Limicoline birds, but when well 

 on the wing it travels with remarkable speed. I have seen 

 a flock perform magnificent aerial gyrations, and the- 

 velocity with which the birds can shoot almost vertically* 

 downwards from an immense height to their feeding- 

 grounds is astonishing. 



Voice. Mr. Harting compares the note to the syllables 

 lou-ey, lou-eij. But the curious barking sound heard from 

 flocks when on the wing in autumn and winter, seems to 

 resemble the syllables dk-dk, dk-dk. 



Food. Small crabs, shrimps, sand-hoppers, marine 

 insects, and shell-fish, constitute the staple diet. The flesh 

 of the immature bird is considered edible, but, like that of 

 many other shore-birds, it has a tendency towards a fishy 

 flavour. 



Nest. This species breeds in marshy situations, scrap- 

 ing a hollow in the ground for a nest. The eggs, four in 

 number, are pale olive-green, blotched and streaked with 

 brown. 



Geographical distribution. The breeding-range appears 

 to extend across Arctic Europe and Asia, from Lapland 

 eastward to the Kiver Yenesei. On migration, in autumn 

 and winter, the bird occurs in great numbers over the 

 sea-board of the European Continent, and as far south as 

 the coast-lands of Equatorial Africa. Eastward it migrates 

 over the Asiatic Continent, as far south as Northern India. 

 Numbers of birds, apparently immature, remain through- 

 out the summer months in many districts of the British 

 Isles, but there is no evidence that this species has nested 

 with us. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head, back of neck, 

 and sides of breast, reddish-brown, streaked with black ; 

 back, scapulars, and wings, marked irregularly with brown 

 and black ; some of the wing-coverts are margined with 

 white ; primaries, brownish-black ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts, white, streaked with brown ; tail, broadly barred 

 with light buff and dark brown ; chin, throat, front of neck% 

 breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, rich chestnut-red. 



Adult female nuptial Eesembles the male nuptial 

 plumage, but the chestnut colour is less pronounced. 



