NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GODWIT. 



in the English fens, and delighting in oozy marshes 

 and moist low grounds, common to our coasts and 

 the Scottish ; it is also known in Ireland. In the 

 breeding season, the plumage of the godwit is very 

 fine, heing red, of different shades, varying from 

 dusky to orange. The head, neck, and breasts are 

 usually of the paler tints, faintest at the eyes and 

 throat; each feather of the crown being marked 

 lengthwise with a brown black ; the breast and sides 

 are also marked irregularly with black, the flank bars 

 being wide and distinct. There is a great deal of 

 white underneath, but barred and marked with dusky 

 brown. The ground upper colour is of a fine, black, 

 glossy brown, with a purple hue, and crossed by bars 

 of pale orange-coloured brown. The rump and tail 

 coverts are white, and the rest of the tail black, of 

 a rich hue : the extremity of the tail slightly diverges 

 into forks when shut. The quills of the wings are a 

 deep greyish black on the outer webs and edges, 

 graduating to white inside ; the shafts of all orange- 

 white. The bill is orange, shading into black-brown 

 at the extremity ; the legs and feet are greenish grey. 

 In winter, the chaster hues predominate. The whole 

 has a tea-green and black effect ; but the plumage is 

 really greenish brown, darker along the centres, the 

 black and white of the tail pretty much the same as 

 its summer dress. Intermediate to these periods 

 there are many variations of hue. The eye is large 

 and full. The geographical range of the godwit is 

 extensive : in the summer, as far as Greenland ; in 



