Genus LIMOSA. 



Bill very long, slightly recurved, the tip slender and flattened, the base high, and the culmen 

 rounded there ; nostrils linear, placed close to the margin, and slightly advanced from the gape ; 

 both mandibles grooved at the sides from the base to the tip. Wings long, the 1st quill the 

 longest. Tail short and even. Legs long, the tibia bare much above the knee. Tarsus covered 

 in front with transverse scales. Toes moderate, the hind toe well -developed ; outer aud middle toe 

 connected at the base by a web ; middle claw dilated, recurved, and pectinated on its inner edge. 



Summer plumage differing from that of winter. 



LIMOSA jEGOCEPHALA. 



(THE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.) 



Scolopax cegocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 246 (1766). 



Scolopax limosa, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 666 (1788). 



Limosa melanura, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. ii. pp. 150, 157 (1811-15); Gould, B. of Eur. iv. 

 pi. 305 (1837) ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. iv. pi. 50 (1873). 



Limosa cegocephala (L.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 268 (1849) ; Von Middendorff, 

 Sibir. Reise, ii. p. 218 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 265 ; Jerdon, 

 B. of Ind. iii. p. 681 (1864); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 473; Shelley, B. of Egypt, 

 p. 245 (1872); Sharpe & Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 15 (1872); Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, 

 p. 235 ; Von Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1153 (1874) ; Irby, B. of Gibraltar, p. 169 

 (1875); Oates, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 346 ; Butler & Hume, ibid. 1876, p. 16 ; Seebohm 

 & Harvie Brown, Ibis, 1876, p. 202; Blanford, Zool. Persia, p. 283 (1876); Ramsay, 

 Ibis, 1877, p. 469 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 460 ; Cripps, ibid. vii. 

 p. 302 ; Hume, t. c. p. 480 ; id. ibid. 1879 (List of Ind. B.), p. 112. 



La grattde Barge rousse, Buffon, PL Enl. 916 ; Jadrcka Snipe ; Bed God-wit, Lath. ; Small 

 Godwit of some. Gairiya also Burra C/iaha, Hind. ; Jaurali, Bengal. ; Tondu ulanka, 

 Telegu (Jerdon) ; Tchibib, Moorish (Favier) ; Abujeta, Andalucia (Irby) ; El aqdt, 

 Biqa or Biqa el Sultani, Arabic (Von Heuglin). 



Adult female (Sambhur). " Length 15*8 inches'' (Adam); wing (imperfect) 8 - 2 ? ; tail3 - 5; tarsus 3'0 ; bare tibia 2-0 ; 

 middle toe l - 45, its claw 0-4 ; bill at front 4-0. 



Adult male (Asia Minor). Wing S'4 inches ; tail 3"0 ; bare tibia 1"8 ; tarsus 3-1 ; middle toe with claw 1'8 ; bill at 

 front 4*1. 



Obs. This species varies very much in size. Females as a rule are larger than males. A series of Furreedpore 

 examples measured by Mr. Cripps range, in the wing from 7 - 5 to 7 - 92 inches, in the tarsus from 2-75 to 3 - 08, 

 in the bill, at front, from 3-6 to 4-39, and in weight from 8'6 to 12-12 oz. Except in the latter point, the margin 

 of difference is not so great here ; but elsewhere, in ' The Ibis,' 1873, Messrs. Alston and Harvie Brown notice 

 a specimen in the Archangel Museum with the wing 9-0 inches, tarsus 3-8, bill to gape 4-87. 



Ins dark brown ; bill fleshy red, darkening to brown at the tip, the culmeu brownish ; legs aud feet blackish. 



Winter plumage (Sambhur). Head, hind neck, interscapulars, scapulars, tertials, and median wing-coverts pale earthy 



