Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



Marbled Godwit 



(Limosa fedoa) 



Called also: MARLIN; BROWN MARLIN; STRAIGHT-BILLED 

 CURLEW; RED CURLEW; GREAT MARBLED GOD- 

 WIT; DOE-BIRD 



Length 16 to 22 inches; largest of the shore birds except the 

 long-billed curlew. 



Male and Female General impression of plumage pale, dull 

 chestnut red barred and varied with black. Head and neck 

 pale buff streaked with black; entire upper parts reddish 

 buff, irregularly barred with black or dusky; throat white; 

 rest of under parts pale reddish buff, the strongest shade 

 under wings ; wavy dark brown lines on all feathers except 

 on centre of abdomen, which is pale buff. Long bill, curving 

 slightly upward, flesh colored at base, blackening near the 

 tip; long legs, ashy black. Female larger. Immature birds 

 are similar, but lack most of the brown lines on under parts. 



Range Temperate North America; nesting in the interior chiefly 

 from the upper Mississippi region north to the Saskatchewan ; 

 wintering in Cuba, Central and South America ; rare on 

 Atlantic coast. 



Season Chiefly a spring and autumn migrant in United States; 

 May; August to November. 



Conspicuous by its size and coloration among the waders, 

 the great marbled godwit might be confused only with the long- 

 billed curlew at a distance where the slight curve upward of the 

 godwit's bill and the pronounced downward curve of the cur- 

 lew's could not be noted. It is not the intention of the godwit to 

 give anyone a near view of either plumage or bill. The most 

 stealthy intruder on its domains salt or fresh water shores, 

 marshes, and prairie lands startles it to wing; its loud, whistled 

 notes sound the alarm to other marlins hidden among the tall 

 sedges, and the entire flock flies off at an easy, steady pace, not 

 rapid, yet not to be overtaken afoot. A beautiful posture, common 

 to the plovers, curlews, terns, and some other birds, is struck just 

 as they alight. Raising the tips of the wings till they meet high 

 above the back, the marlins suggest the favorite attitude of angels 

 shown by the early Italian painters. 



Devoted to their companions, as most birds of this order are, 



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