398 The Water-fowl Family 



centre, tipped with white ; tail, gray, the feathers barred irregu- 

 larly with white on inner webs ; a stripe extending from the bill 

 over the eye, cheeks, throat, and entire under parts, reddish 

 buff; belly, white ; under tail-coverts, white, transversely marked 

 with dusky ; iris, brown ; bill, flesh color at base, blackish brown 

 on terminal half; legs and feet, bluish gray. 



Adult female in breeding plu?nage — Similar to the male, but the 

 under surface is paler and more mixed with white, and the 

 measurements average larger. 



Adult male and female in winter — Top of head, back of neck, and 

 upper parts, brownish gray, lightest on head and neck ; centre 

 of the feathers, dark ; under parts, ash-brown on throat and 

 neck, white on breast and abdomen ; flanks, faintly barred. 

 The plumage shows wide variations. 



Measurements — Length, 16 inches ; wing, 8.75 inches ; oilmen, 3.50 

 inches; tarsus, 2.25 inches. 



Eggs — Two in number; greenish drab, with irregular blotches of 

 pale brown ; measure 2.25 by 1 .42 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds in eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, and western Alaska 

 from the mouth of the Yukon to Kotzebue Sound and probably 

 Point Barrow, and possibly on the Aleutians. Winters in the 

 Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceanica. 

 Occurs in migrations on the Pribilof, Aleutian, and Commander 

 islands, Hawaii, China, Japan, and the Philippines, and acci- 

 dentally in Lower California. 



A summer resident of Alaska, this bird is 

 hardly more than a straggler to the Pacific Coast 

 of the United States, having been taken in Lower 

 California. It is found along the shores of east- 

 ern Asia, and on various of the Pacific islands, 

 south to Australia. The Pacific godwit, in breed- 

 ing plumage, is a showy bird and the largest of 

 the waders in the regions it frequents. Nelson 

 describes it as reaching St. Michael in flocks of 

 from twenty to two hundred, separating toward 



