VOL. XIV.] HAUNT OF BLACK-TAILED GOD WIT. 99 



long legs stretched behind him seem to meet together at the 

 feet, leaving a wide triangular space between the legs. The 

 short black tail is expanded. As the bird wheels above your 

 head, you see the spread tail, then the gap and beyond that 

 the bird's feet. So he floats in the air, uttering wild cries, until 

 you are beyond the danger zone. 



The keeper led me straight to a Godwit's nest ; the female 

 was brooding and sat quietly watching us. The nest was 



{Photographed by E. L. Turner.) 



beneath a bush of dwarf sallow ; it was not much of a nest, 

 but the lining of willow down was neatly laid ; in it were four 

 large olive-green eggs, covered with dark brown blotches. 



The next morning early I put up my tent and waited. She 

 returned in half an hour ; I saw her when fifty yards away, 

 and watched her daintily threading her way through the 

 bushes. The pale green, half -opened buds of the sallow were 

 just tipped with white down. Against these stood the tall 

 bird, clad in plumage of soft browns and buffs. Her very 



