226 SCOLOPACID^E. 



godvvit. It is occasionally obtained inland in the autumn : one 

 was shot at Lough Beg (adjoining Lough Neagh), about the 1st 

 of September, 1836 j* and in the last week of August 1841, 

 another fell to a snipe-shooter, in marshy ground near Belfast. 

 I have seen one, which was killed from a flock near Portumna, on 

 the river Shannon, in April 1836. The black-tailed godwit has 

 been shot at Portmarnock on the Dublin coast : — at the end of 

 September 1840, many of these birds, along with ruffs, were 

 brought (but whence was not communicated) to the metropolis 

 for sale. In the first week of November, and at other times, a 

 few have been met with on the coast of Wexford. On that of 

 Waterford,t too, they have occurred, and have been observed, 

 though rarely in autumn, at Youghal. J They are said to be " not 

 uncommon about the month of December, in Cork Harbour, where, 

 on the 2nd of November, 1847, six were killed at a shot : — in 

 September, the adult bird has been obtained there." |[ In the 

 winter of 1840, and again in that of 1847-48, two specimens 

 were procured on the coast of Kerry.^f 



Great confusion has been caused by this bird having been called 

 red godwit by some British authors, while the common one is the 

 Limosa nifa ; but the barred tail of the latter, and the black tail 

 of. the former, are sufficient to indicate the respective species. 



The Limosa melauura is an interesting bird in captivity. During 

 visits to the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Eegent's Park, 

 London, in May and June 1849, the sight of eleven of these 

 birds, winch are kept along with other grallatorial species, in one 

 of the inclosures, always gratified me. The first day I saw them 

 was very warm. They were all standing in the same position, on 

 one leg, with the other tucked up so as to be wholly invisible, the 

 bill buried in the feathers, and the eyes closed. The next day 

 that I went was equally fine, and the hour of my visit the same ; 

 but they were all actively stirring about and calling, as if on the 



* A coleopterous insect, half an inch in length, was found in its stomach. In that 

 of others the minute univalve shell Paludina muriatica, Lam., has been observed. 



t Mr. Poole and Dr. R. J. Burkitt. % Mr. R. Ball. 



|| Mr. Wm. Crawford to Dr. Harvey. % Mr. R. Chute. 



