LIMOSA FEDOA, GREAT MARBLED GOD WIT. 493 



Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 718 {American Godwit, Arct. Zool. ii, 465, No. 371 ; Lath., 

 Syn. V, 142).— WiLS., Am. Orn. vii, 181:^, 30, pi. 56, f. 4. 



Limicida fedoa, Vikcll., Analyse, 1816. « 



Limosa fedoa, Okd, ed. Wils. vii, 1825, — .— Bp., Obs. Wiis. 1825 ; Syn. 1828, 328 ; List, 

 1838, 52.— Sab., Fraukl. Journ. 689.— Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 395.— Nutt., 

 Man. ii, 1834, 173.— Add., Oru. Biog. iii, 1835,287 ; v, 590 ; pi. 238 ; Syn. 1839, 

 246 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 331, pi. 348.— Gin., B. L. I. 1844, 259.— PuTN., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 

 1856, 217.— Nkwb., p. E. R. Rep. vi, 1857, 100.— Cass., B. N. A. 18,58, 740.— 

 Heerm., p. R. K. Rep. x, 18.':9, pt. vi, 65.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 

 1860, 245.— Cab., J. f. O. iv, 350 (Cuba).— SCL., Ibis i, 1859, 230 (Belize).— 

 Lkyl., p. Z. S. 1859, 64 (Honduras).— Salv., Ibia, 1865, 190 (Guatemala).— 

 Dress., Ibis, 1866, 39 (Texas).— La WR., Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii, 1866, 294 ; ix, 210 (Yu- 

 catan).— Wheat., Ohio Agric. Rep. 1860, No. 221.— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 175.— Hoy, 

 Smiths. Rep. 1864, 438 (Missouri).— Verr., Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 1862, 159.— Allex, 

 ibid, iv, 1864, 87.— McIi.WE.,i6td. v, 1866, 93.— CoUES, ibid, v, 1868, 296.— Tkippb, 

 ibid, vi, 1871, 119 (Minnesota).— CouES, Pr. Bost. Soc. xii, 1868, 123.— Tuhnb., 

 B. E. Pa. 1868, 32.— Mayn., Guide, 1870, 142.— Coues, Pp. Phila. Acad. 1871, 

 32.— AiXEN, Bull. M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 3,56 (Florida, in winter).- Trippe, Pr. Bost. 

 Soc. XV, 1872, 241 (Iowa).— CouES, Key, 1872, 257.— Snow, B. Kans. 1873, 10.— 

 RiDGW., Ann. Lye. N. Y. x, 1874, 384. 



Scolopax mai-TKorata, L.\th., Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 720. 



Limicula marmoraia, Vieh,!.., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ; Gal. Ois. ii, 1825, 115, pi. 243. 



Limosa amaicana, Steph., Shaw's Gen. Zool. 



Limosa adsx^ersa, LiCHT. 



Hob, — Entire temperate North America ; Central and South America. West Indies. 

 Breeds in the Missouri and Upper Mississippi regions, and thence to the Saskatchewan. 

 Winters in the Southern States and southward. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition, — 4884, Kanesville ; 5450, Fort Uuiou. 



Not observed by Captain Eaynolds' Expedition, nor by the later ones. 



Comparatively little has beea learned of the breeding resorts and 

 habits of this Godwit, though it is such a common and generally distri- 

 buted bird during its migrations and in winter. Audubon surmises that 

 it may breed in South Carolina and perhaps also in Texas, where, as 

 Mr. Dresser found it in summer, it probably does. Occurring in abun- 

 dance along most of the Atlantic coast, it nevertheless appears less 

 common north of Massachusetts, and has not, it would appear, been 

 observed much, if any, beyond New England in that longitude. The 

 centre of its abundance in summer, and its main breeding ground, is, 

 apparently, the Northern Mississippi and Eastern Missouri regions, and 

 thence to the Saskatchewan ; for, unlike its relative [L. Imdsonica), it 

 does not proceed very far north to nest. It breeds in Iowa, and in Min- 

 nesota and Eastern Dakota, where I observed it in June, and where the 

 eggs have been procured. I found it on the plains bordering the Eed 

 Eiver, in company with Long-billed Curlews and great numbers of the 

 Bartramian Sandpipers, nesting, like these species, on the prairie near 

 the river and about the adjoining pools, but not necessarily by the 

 water's edge. In its habits at this season it most nearly resembles the 

 Curlew, and the two species, of much the same size and general appear- 

 ance, might be readily mistaken at a distance where the difference in 

 the bill might not be perceived. On intrusion near the nest, the birds 

 mount in the air with loud, piercing cries, hovering slowly around with 

 labored flight in evident distress, and approaching sometimes within a 

 few feet of the observer. 



The only perfect set of eggs of the Godwit I have seen were taken 

 June 1, 1871, fifty miles northwest of Saint Paul, Minnesota ; both pa- 

 rents were secured and deposited in the Saint Paul Academy, where I 

 examined them ; so that the identification is unquestionable. There are 

 three eggs in this set, measuring 2.30 by 1.60, 2.28 by 1.56, and 2.25 by 

 1.62. The color is a clear, light olivaceous-drab; the markings are 

 small and numerous, but not very strongly pronounced — there is nothing 

 (in this set) of the heavy blotching and marking usually seen in waders' 



