404 The Water-fowl Family 



mon, and gray ; wing-coverts, brownish gray, greater coverts 

 tipped with white, forming a conspicuous patch; rump, long 

 upper tail-coverts, and most of the tail, dusky ; upper tail-coverts 

 and base of the tail, white ; axillars and lining of the wing, white. 



Female — Less highly colored than the male and larger. 



Adult male and female in winter plumage — Upper parts, dark 

 brownish gray, lightest on the head and neck; jugulum, pale 

 gray ; other lower parts, white ; otherwise as in summer. 



Young — Head, dull brown, feathers edged with rufous, an indistinct 

 light buff line passing from the base of the bill beyond the eye ; 

 neck, dark buff; back, brown, with an occasional darker feather ; 

 all the feathers tipped with rufous ; greater wing-coverts, dull 

 gray, tipped with white ; middle coverts, brown, tipped with 

 buff; sides of head, neck, and breast, buff; bill, blackish brown, 

 orange at base; legs and feet, black; iris, brown. 



Downy young — Rusty yellow ; spotted above, especially on crown 

 and rump, with black ; line through eye, cheeks, and belly, pale 

 yellowish. 



Measurements — Length, 15.75 inches; wing, 8 inches; culmen, 

 4.25 inches ; tarsus, 2.80 inches. 



Eggs — Three to four in number, light olive-brown in color, blotched 

 with darker brown; measure 2.17 by 1.50 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds in Iceland, in Europe from Holland to Scandinavia, 

 Russia, and western Siberia, north to the Arctic circle. Winters 

 from Spain and the coast of the Mediterranean sometimes south 

 to Abyssinia and Madeira, occurring in Great Britain in migra- 

 tion. One taken near Godthaab, Greenland, about 1830. 



The black-tailed godwit belongs to the Old 

 World, frequenting the northern parts of the 

 European continent, migrating south in winter 

 to Africa. Its occasional occurrence in Green- 

 land has caused it to be included in the American 

 Check- List. 



In the desolate marshes found in some parts 

 of north central Europe, this species carries on 



