Shore-bird Shooting 397 



bird is still found, and is not uncommon on the 

 prairie watercourses of Montana and Dakota, 

 south into Texas. The flocks are usually small 

 and on the wing, marked by a characteristic, 

 undulating flight, — the birds, under these circum- 

 stances, seldom uttering any note. The flesh 

 generally is excellent. May is the time for the 

 appearance of the spring flight, and numbers 

 breed as far north as the fur countries, but more 

 commonly within our own boundaries than was 

 originally supposed, nests having been found in 

 Iowa and in parts of the Missouri River regions. 

 In May, 1901, I saw a pair of these birds on one 

 of the large marshy lakes near Chihuahua, Mexico. 

 They were among a number of teal and avocet, 

 and kept on the grass near the flat, remaining 

 after the others had taken wing, and allowed an 

 easy approach. On the Pacific Coast the marbled 

 godwit is found in numbers in southern Califor- 

 nia, and may breed here, the young having been 

 noticed in July. The various names for this 

 species are red curlew, straight-billed curlew, and 

 marlin. 



PACIFIC GODWIT 



(Limosa lapponica bauert) 



Adult male in breeding plumage — Top of head, dusky black, streaked 

 with buff; neck posteriorly, buff, streaked with dusky ; back and 

 scapulars, dusky, irregularly mottled with light rufous ; rump, 

 dusky gray, feathers faintly bordered with white; upper tail- 

 coverts, white, the feathers with triangular spots of dusky in the 



