264 



PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^. 



elongated inner secondaries dark brown, edged with rufous-bult', and notched with rufous ; greater 

 win"-coverts dull earthy gray, broadly tipped with white ; median and smaller coverts dull brown, 

 edo-ed and tipped with grayish buff ; chin dirty white ; sides of head, neck, and breast dark buff ; 

 flanks washed with luitf" (Sharpe & Dresser). Doumy young: "Rusty yellow, marked with 



black, especially on crown and rump ; a narrow streak through the eye, wing-joints, cheeks, and 

 belly, light yellowish" (Sharpe & Dresser). 



Wing, 8.00-9.80 ; culmen, 3.70-4.95; tarsus, 2.80-3.8(»; middle toe, 2.0(1-2.12. 



The Black-tailed Godwit claims a place in the fauna of North America only as an 

 accidental visitant of Greenland. It is an inhabitant of the Old World, breeding 

 only in the more northern portions, but not within high Arctic regions. It is almost 

 exclusively migratory in Great Britain and Ireland, though a few remain there each 

 year and breed. 



In England, according to Yarrell, it is most frequently seen in the spring and fall, 

 the first-comers being adult birds on their way to their breeding-grounds in high 

 northern latitudes. In the autumn it is more abundant than in the spring, on account 

 of the large number of young birds of the year going south, for the first time, to their 

 winter-quarters. xV few were still known to resort to the marshes of Norfolk and to 

 the fens of Lincolnshire ; but these are very rarely permitted to breed unmolested, as 

 the large size, as well as the peculiar action, of this liird when it is breeding, are sure 

 to attract the notice both of the sportsman and the egger. Yarrell was informed in 

 1855, by the Rev. Richard Lubbock, that this Godwit still breeds occasionally in some 

 of the Norfolk marshes, returning to the same locality year after year, and being 

 found in only two or three situations. 



In its flight during the breeding-season it is said to resemble the 2\ifam(s cuHdris 

 of Europe ; and like that bird it flies, when breeding, around the head of any intruder 

 in the marsh, i)ut in more distant circles, and at a much greater height in the air. It 

 is known in the rural districts of England by the local name of "Shrieker;" but in 

 Yarrell's opinion it does not deserve the name, for its note, though loud, is very far 

 from being inharmonious. It is said to be becoming more and more rare each year in 

 the breeding-season. Its food consists of insects and their larvae, worms, snails, and 

 various other soft-bodied animals. If disturbed when breeding, it is said to be 

 very clamorous, flying round and uttering a cry which is thought to resemble the 

 syllables rjratto-grutto-gi'utto ; and by this name it is known ly the country folk of 

 Holland. According to Thompson, this bird is seen occasionally in Ireland, and only 

 in the autumn. Examples of it have been obtained in Devonshire, and others at Car- 

 lington in Bedfordshire ; and Yarrell was informed by Mr. Bond that several speci- 

 mens have been known to make their appearance in the vicinity of Kingsbury 

 Reservoir, a large sheet of water a few miles north of London. Specimens are also 



