404 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



the surface for the shell-fish and ' sand-hoppers ' on which they 

 subsist. When the tide flows, and the Godwits have to take 

 wing, they rise together, or one after another, with the cry 

 ' kewit,' from which the name Godwit is perhaps derived. 

 Mr. Harting has described their cry as 'lou-ey, lou-ey.' 1 This 

 rendering fails to express to my ears any resemblance to the 

 call of this bird. At all events it is a shrill cry, and quite 

 distinct from that of any other marsh bird. Should you want 

 to see a pretty picture, find a party of Godwits — five or six will 

 be enough — standing on one leg, stilt fashion, at the edge of the 

 flowing tide, accompanied perhaps by two or three Dunlins. 

 If the birds are lazily disposed, you may see them sidling in 

 on one leg without taking the trouble to let down the other, 

 occasionally vociferating their shrill whistle. 



These Godwits are rather partial to the company of Oyster- 

 catchers. An odd bird of each species may often be seen 

 feeding together in the soft sand. The Oystercatchers feed 

 chiefly on the mussel scars, and, when the former birds have 

 flocked to a favourite spot, a stray Godwit frequently chooses 

 to fly up and alight among the noisy Sea-pies, a light-coloured 

 object as viewed against the background of the mussel scar. 

 Allusion has been made incidentally to these Godwits journey- 

 ing to the Solway from the north-east. It seems likely that 

 they continue their journey westward to the estuaries of the 

 north of Ireland. They are not often noticed in crossing 

 country, simply because they fly very high and rarely alight. 

 But stragglers have been known to alight on passage upon 

 their fly-line, just as Euffs are sometimes shot in August and 

 September on the moors near Alston. For instance, the Earl 

 of Carlisle possesses a specimen of the Bar-tailed Godwit which 

 Captain Johnson shot upon one of his moors near Brampton. 

 Although this Godwit is most notably an autumn visitant to 

 the English Solway, large numbers generally winter with us, 

 but these are chiefly adults which arrive in full winter dress 

 late in the year. In December 1889 Mr. Nicol shot twenty- 

 five old birds up to the 26th of the month. Their movements 



1 I mention this, because it is accepted as accurate in the fourth 

 edition of Yarrell. 



