Bar-tailed Godwit. 423 



' Greenshank ' indicates at once the grayish-green-colour of the 

 legs, which distinguishes it from the Kedshank. Its scientific 

 name glottis, and in Swedish Glutt Sndppa, signify the bird 

 ' with a tongue ;' so the French call it Aboyeur, ' the Barker/ for 

 it is most vociferous, and its loud shrill note, with which it rises 

 when disturbed, alarms all other birds in the fen. In Germany 

 it is Grunfussiger Wasserlaufer, and in Italy Pantana 

 verderello. 



157. BAR-TAILED GODWIT (Limosa rufa). 

 Common though it is on the coast, I have only one instance of 

 the occurrence of this bird in Wilts, and that was a specimen 

 shot in the neighbourhood of Marlborough ; and as it puzzled its 

 captors, it was sent tome to name on November 6th, 1881, when 

 it was of course in winter plumage. In Sweden it rejoices in 

 a name almost as long as its beak, being known as Rost-rod Lang 

 Ndbba, or ' Rust-red Long-Bill,' but provincially Augusti Snappa, 

 because it appears in August. Its scientific name, Limosa, 

 meaning * muddy,' marks the localities it prefers, and here it will, 

 with its long semi-flexible bill, probe the muddy deposit on the 

 banks and mouths of rivers, wading deep in the water, immersing 

 the head at intervals, and searching the ooze beneath.* When 

 disturbed and raised on the wing, the Red Godwit will send forth 

 a cry not unlike the bleat of a goat, whence, I suppose, the name 

 cegocephala bestowed on it by old writers, for in no other respect 

 assuredly does it bear any resemblance to the head of a goat. In 

 consequence of their great length of beak, they are often called 

 ' Sea Woodcocks/ and as they arrive on the east coast pretty 

 regularly on or about May 12th, that day is known to the fen 

 men as * Godwit-day/ a plain proof, if any were wanting, how 

 numerous they once were in the fen districts of England. Hart- 

 ing says Godwits come with an east wind, and are more plentiful 

 in mild than in severe winters ; he also adds, in their winter dress 

 they greatly resemble Whimbrel, from which, however, they may 

 be distinguished at a distance by their note, which sounds like 

 Selby's ' Illustrations of British Birds/ vol. ii., p. 94. 



