810 The Zoologist — July, 18G7. 



every feather distinct in a blaze of sunlight, for it was a glorious day ; 

 even the gray river and its muddy flats were flooded with bright light, 

 the little ripples on its oily surface belts of liquid fire. What a wild 

 restless beauty there is in the bold black eye of these birds ! little 

 indeed do they imagine they are the subjects of so close a scrutiny, or 

 they would not sit so quietly within range of our telescope. Just 

 beyond the gray plovers four or five whimbrel and two godwits were 

 feeding : after a patient investigation of these latter birds I feel con- 

 vinced they were the blacktailed godwit: directly I turned the glass 

 upon them it struck me they were not our common bartailed species. 

 They are a much larger looking bird ; in fact, I could perceive very 

 little difference, if any, between them and the whimbrel in point of 

 size, and the white streak or mark above the eye is much more appa- 

 rent than in the bartailed. The lower part of their tails was certainly 

 all black, the upper part white. These godwits were still in the 

 transition plumage. They are most energetic feeders, walking slowly 

 close to the edge of the ripple, sometimes in the shallow water, 

 sometimes out, but all the time perpetually and rapidly driving their 

 long bills deep into the soft ooze, first to left then to right, up to the 

 forehead every stroke, as if feeling for their prey, and in some instances 

 thrusting the head itself under water. They gave me the idea of the 

 motions of a man spearing eels, thrusting his " gad," in a hap-hazard 

 manner, into the mud. The whimbrels are far more circumspect in 

 their movements ; they also bore to the extent of the bill, but they do 

 so slowly and deliberately, and at short intervals, walking some 

 distance between the borings, and then thrusting down as if they knew 

 they should find a sandworm underneath. A little higher up the 

 " Hats" a party of knots were feeding. I was greatly surprised to see 

 knots on the fore-shore as late as the 0th of May, as they usually take 

 their departure from the Humber district early in April. These knots 

 had not fully acquired the ruddy nuptial plumage, and were all more 

 or less 'in transition plumage. Just off the mouth of the creek a 

 beautiful male black scoter was diving, spending more time under 

 water than above. I know the river at this spot is not more than six 

 feet deep, yet this bird would remain underneath from thirty-five to 

 fifty seconds, often coming up at some distance from the point of 

 immersion ; in the act of diving the tail was spread out like a fan. A 

 short distance lower down the stream was a female scaup {Fuligula 

 marila), 1 have repeatedly seen male scaup near this place late in 

 the season, once indeed a single bird as late as the 24th of May. Is 



