364 The Plover-like Birds 



is blackish, the feathers margined with rufous above, with the sides of the head, 

 neck, and breast rusty red, while the remaining under parts are white, the lower 

 breast black-spotted; its length is but six inches. Beyond the fact that it is 

 found in company wih other Sandpipers along muddy beaches where it secures 

 its food, very little is known of its habits; its nest and eggs are unknown. 



Godwits. With a long, slender, very gently recurved bill, which is much 

 longer than the tarsus and entirely smooth and hard at the tip, is a little group 

 of some half a dozen species known as the Godwits (Limosa), which are in some 

 respects related to those last mentioned. As further distinguishing marks it 

 may be noted that the bill is grooved nearly to the tip, while the gape is relatively 

 slight, in fact not extending beyond the base of the culmen, while the feathers 

 on the side of the bill reach forward to about the same point, or a little farther 

 on the chin. The tibia is partially bare and the middle or outer toes connected 

 by a membrane for a short distance; the wings are long and pointed, equaling 

 or slightly exceeding the short, even tail. In several the seasonal difference in 

 coloration is considerable; in all the length is between fifteen and twenty 

 inches. 



Of. the four North American forms the Marbled Godwit or Brown Marlin 

 (L. fedoa}, may be known by having the upper tail-coverts pale cinnamon barred 

 with black, and the axillaries and under wing-coverts cinnamon-rufous; it is 

 about eighteen inches long. It is found throughout North America in general, 

 though rare on the Atlantic coast, breeding from Iowa and Dakota northward 

 to Alaska, and in winter migrating to Guatemala, Yucatan, and Cuba. Accord- 

 ing to Colonel Goss, " this bird inhabits the salt and fresh water shores, marshes, 

 and moist ground upon the prairies. It feeds upon crustaceae, insects, worms, 

 larvae, etc., moving about in a horizontal position, picking and probing as it 

 goes. Its flight is easy and well sustained, though not very rapid; in alighting 

 it raises the wings over the back as it touches the ground. These birds as a 

 rule are shy and keep well out of reach." The eggs are clay-colored or ashy, 

 spotted, blotched, and scrawled with brown. Allied to this, but distinguished 

 at once by the white, dusky-spotted upper tail-coverts, axillars, and under wing- 

 coverts is the Bar-tailed Godwit (L. lapponica) of the northern portion of the 

 Eastern Hemisphere in summer, but wintering in the. Mediterranean countries. 

 It frequents the seashore, estuaries, and mud flats, where it proBes in the mud 

 and sand for its food of crustaceans, worms, etc. It nests in the interior of 

 Lapland. In eastern Asia and adjacent Alaska its place is taken by the Pacific 

 Godwit (L. L baueri), known by its paler coloration and more spotted rump; 

 its habits, however, are similar. In North America east of the Rocky Mountains 

 occurs the Hudsonian Godwit (L. hamasticd), which may be known by its uni- 

 form black instead of barred tail. This bird makes one of the longest migra- 

 tory journeys on record, since it rears its young within the Arctic Circle and in 

 winter ranges throughout the whole length of South America. Its Old World 

 counterpart is the Black-tailed Godwit (L. limosa), distinguished by the two 

 white patches on the wing. It is found in central and northern Europe and is 

 accidental in Greenland. 



