LIMOSA 799 



Mus. xxiv. p. 381 ; Ridgway, p. 164 ; L. melanwra, Leisl. Nachtr. 

 Bechst. Naturg. ii. p. 153 (1813) ; Naum. viii. p. 406, Taf. 212, 213 ; 

 Gould, B. of E. iv. pi. 305 ; id. B. of Gt, Brit. iv. pi. 50 ; Hewitson, 

 ii. p. 342, pi. xciii. ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. p. 329 ; L. melanu- 

 roides, Gould, P.Z.S. 1846, p. 84; id. B. of Austral, vi. pi. 28; 

 L. brevipes (nee. Gray), Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Scolopaces, p. 21 

 (1864) ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 460 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. 

 p. 929 ; L. cegocephala (nee. Linn.), Dresser, viii. p. 211, pi. 574; 

 Lilford, v. p. 125, pi. 55. 



Barge a queue noire, French ; Abujeia, Sarseruelo, Span. ; 

 Magarico gallego, Parda, Portug. ; Pittima, Ital. ; Schwarz- 

 schwanziger- Uferschnepfe, German ; Grutto, Schries, Dutch ; 

 Jardreka, Icel. ; Sorthalet-Rodspove, Norweg. ; Sorthalet-Kobber- 

 sneppe, Dan. ; Rodspof, Swed. ; JtlvdoshJca, Veretennik, Russ. ; 

 Grudera, Hindu. ; Sorihashi-cMdori, Jap. 



$ ad. (England). Head, neck, and breast rusty red, the crown and 

 nape striped with black ; upper parts barred black and rusty red ; lower 

 back and rump blackish ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail black, the middle 

 feathers tipped with grey, the outermost white on the basal half ; quills 

 blackish, the inner primaries and secondaries white at base ; wing-coverts 

 earthy grey, the larger with broad white tips ; breast indistinctly barred 

 with black ; under parts white, irregularly barred with black and rufous, 

 the flanks washed with rufous ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; 

 beak blackish brown, orange at the base ; legs blackish ; iris brown. Cul- 

 men 3'9, wing 8'0, tail 3'6, tarsus 2'8 inch. Female larger and duller 

 coloured. In winter the plumage lacks all red, the upper parts are earthy 

 grey, the throat, neck, and upper breast pale earthy grey, the rest of the 

 under parts white. 



Hob. Europe generally, a regular visitor to Iceland, where it 

 breeds ; accidental in Greenland ; wintering in South Europe 

 and Africa, south to Abyssinia ; Asia, east to Japan, north to 

 Kamchatka ; Mongolia, Corea, Manchuria ; China, Burma, India, 

 the Malay Archipelago, and Australia in winter; formerly 

 breeding in England and abundantly in the Netherlands. 



Frequents marshy and damp localities, and in winter the sea 

 coasts, and feeds on worms, insects, snails, larvae, &c. Its note 

 is a clear tu-ee-tooo, oft repeated, and when alarmed it utters a 

 clamorous wail, grutto, grutto. The nest is a mere depression 

 in the moss, and the 4 eggs, which are usually deposited in 

 May, are dull greenish indistinctly marked with dark brownish 

 olive, and in size measure about 213 by 1'46. 



Birds from East Asia are as a rule rather smaller than 

 European ones. 



