NORTE AMERICAN BIRDS. 143 



have been taken in Grinnell Land, and it is said to breed on islands about the coast 

 of Greenland and on the shores and islands of Hudson Bay. Dr. Brewer states that 

 Mr. MacFarlane, on June 29, discovered a nest with four eggs on the Barren Lands, 

 near the Arctic coast. The eggs at this date were quite fresh. The nest is said to 

 have been made of hay and decayed leaves. The eggs are ashy or greenish-brown, 

 spotted and blotched with brown of different shades, pyriform in shape; two to four 

 in number, and measure 1.41 by .91. 



249. MARBLED GODWIT. Limosa fedoa (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— North Ameri- 

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

 Saskatchewan. Winters in the Southern States and southward. 



The Great Marbled Godwit, or Marlin, inhabits the entire temperate North 

 America, and it is a common bird during the migrations and in winter. It breeds 

 chiefly in the Mississippi and Eastern Missouri regions, in Iowa, Minnesota and the 

 Dakotas, thence to the Saskatchewan; known to breed in Northern Ohio, in Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska. This .is the largest of the "Bay birds," 

 except the Long-billed Curlew, and can readily be distinguished, its bill being either 

 straight or bent a little upward, and not decurved, like the Curlew's. It frequents 

 muddy pools, sandy shores and marshes, usually in flocks of greater or less extent. 

 The bird is held in high esteem for the table, and they are eagerly hunted by the 

 gunners when flocks of ten or a dozen birds appear on the marshes. The sportsmen 

 call them "Dough" or "Doe" birds. The eggs are creamy-bufE or light oliveaceous- 

 drab spotted and blotched, rather sparsely, with yellowish and umber-brown of 

 varying shades, long oval; size about 2.27 by 1.60; three or four in number, and they 

 are deposited in a slight depression of the ground, lined with a few bits of grasses. 

 The nests are placed in the vicinity of a pool or river, but not always near the 

 water's edge. 



250. PACIFIC GODWIT. Limosa lapponica baueri (Naum.) Geog. Dist. — 

 Coasts of Eastern Asia and across to Alaska, south in winter to New Zealand and 

 Australia; casual to Lower California. 



In the winter months the Pacific Godwit is found in many of the islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean — the Polynesian Islands and Australia. At this season it Is also found 

 on the Eastern and Southern coasts of Asia and Japan. On the American coast it 

 is a summer resident in Alaska, and south of this point it is recorded only from 

 Lower California. An abundant species at the mouth of the Yukon and on the 

 marshes of Pastolik, which are farther north. The nests are built in tussocks of 

 grass, lined with the same material. The eggs are said to be only two in number, 

 of light olive drab, spotted with irregularly formed spots of umber of varying 

 shades, similar to those of the Godwit; size, 2.25x1.45. 



251. HTTBSONIAN GODWIT. Limosa hwmastica (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— North- 

 ern North America. Not recorded west of Rocky Mountains, only in Alaska. 



The Hudsonian Godwit, though not common anywhere in the United States, is 

 distributed throughout North America generally, but has not been observed west of 

 the Rocky Mountains. It passes the winter south of the United States, and breeds 

 in the most northern sections of the country. Breeds abundantly on the Barren 

 Lands of the Arctic Ocean. In the Lower Anderson river region it nests in the first 

 part of June, depositing its eggs in a slight depression of the ground lined with a 

 few leaves and grasses. It associates with L. fmln, and has the same habits and 

 characteristics. Called by the gunners the "Smaller Doe-bird." American Black- 



