130 NOTES ON THE 
are soon gone afterwards. An individual I obtained in July 
suggests the possibility of a few breeding here. All prejudged 
conclusions as to the breeding limits of species are valueless. 
And when emanating from persons assuming to be authori 
ties in the matter they are often unjust to earnest, ambitious 
young naturalists by reflecting shadows of doubt upon their 
best work. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
No hind toe; front toes moderate or rather long, flattened 
underneath; distinctly margined with a membrane; bill rather 
longer than the head, straight, rather thick; ridge of upper 
mandible flattened; nasal groove deep and nearly as long as the 
upper mandible, not so distinct in the lower; both mandibles 
widened and flattened at the tip; aperture of the nostril large 
and covered with a membrane; wing long; tail short, with the 
middle feathers longest; under coverts as long as the tail; legs 
moderate; lower third of the tibia naked; upper parts light 
ashy with lanceolate, hastate and ovate spots of brownish-black 
on top of the head, on the back, scapulars and shorter quills; 
rump and upper tail coverts with fine transverse lines of black; 
under parts pure white; shoulders brownish-black without 
spots; quills brownish black with their shafts white and much 
paler on the inner webs; greater wing coverts widely tipped 
with white; middle feathers of tail ashy-brown, edged with 
white; outer feathers paler; bill and legs greenish-black; sexes 
alike; iris brown. 
Length, 8; wing, 5; tail, 2; bill, 1; tarsus, 1. 
Habitat, nearly cosmopolitan. 
LIMOSA FEDOA (L.). (249.) 
MARBLED GODWIT. 
Fairly common for a few days in early May, these larger 
birds of the Scolopacidee family are with us but a short time in 
their migrations, especially in the spring. They are already 
paired when they come in most cases, and are seldom found in 
anything like flocks at this time, but when they return about 
the 15th of August, or the 20th, as occurs more frequently per- 
haps, they are generally in parties of five or six, rarely more. 
They remain in autumn until the 20th of September if no severe 
frosts appear, in which case they are all gone the next morn- 
ing early, taking to wing before the dawn. Specimens were 
not uncommon in the shops and private cabinets of St. Paul 
thirty years ago, and may still be found as common in the 
museums of the academies and educational institutions from 
the State University through. It is somewhat irregular in 
