244 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



A common, three-toed, beach-living, mottled-brownish sand- 

 piper, with short bill and unspotted white belly. In winter 

 the reddish of the back is replaced by grayish. This bird 

 often associates with No. 14 on the beaches, but it is larger, 

 lighter in color, and usually less spotted on the breast, which 

 in summer is brownish in tint. (Ruddy "Plover"; Surf 

 Snipe.) 



Length, 8; wing, 4J (4|-5) ; tail, 2^; tarsus, 1; culmen, 1. Nearly 

 all beaches of all countries ; breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering 

 in America south to southern South America. 



17. Marbled Godwit (249. Limdsa fMoa). — A very large, shy, 

 long-billed, long-legged, generally brownish-red-colored, mottled 

 snipe, with the upper parts much darker, usually blackish 

 marbled with buffy. The inner web of the outer primaries 

 and both webs of the others are buffy, speckled with black. 

 The mottlings, barrings, and streaks are found everywhere 

 except on the throat, which is whitish. The bill is curved up- 

 ward to a slight extent. The young has the lower parts less 

 barred. This is a western bird rarely found on the Atlantic 

 coast. (Brown Marlin.) 



Length, 16-22; wing, 8 J (SJ-Q^); tail, 3-4; tarsus, 3; culmen, 3^-5^. 

 North America ; breeding in the interior from Iowa and Nebraska north- 

 ward, and wintering in Mexico, Central America, and Cuba. 



18. Hudsonian Godwit (251. Limdsa hoemdstica). — A bird 

 similar to the last, but smaller, and with the upper tail coverts 

 white, and the tail black, with a narrow tip of white. It is 

 rare on the Atlantic coast, migrating chiefly through the in- 

 terior. (Ring-tailed Marlin.) 



Length, 14-17; wing, SJ (7|-8f); tail, 3^; tarsus, 2J; culmen, 2j-3^. 

 Eastern North America ; breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering in 

 South America. 



19. Greater Yellow-legs (254. Tdtanus melanoleiicus). A 



rather common, large, long, yellow-legged, long-billed, mottled, 

 brownish-gray-backed, white-rumped snipe, with the white un- 

 der parts, spotted on the breast and sides. In winter the back 



