THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 653 



LIMOSA LAPPONICA 



422. Limosa lapponica lapponica (L.) — THE BAR-TAILED 

 GODWIT. 



Scolopax lapponica Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 147 (1758 — Lap- 

 land). 



Scolopax leucophcea Latham, Index Orn., 11, p. 719 (1790 — " Habitat in 

 Europa, frequens in Anglia "). 



Fedoa pectoralis Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool., xii, 1, p. 79 (1824 — Eng- 

 land). 

 Limosa lapponica (Linnaeus), Yarrell, in, p. 494 ; Saunders, p. 623. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Crown streaked 

 ash-brown, feathers edged ash-white or cream ; nape same but 

 streaks narrower and paler ; mantle and scapulars ash-brown, 

 feathers with sepia shafts, some shaded sepia centrally, mostly with 

 a mouse-grey bloom, scapulars and some mantle feathers edged pale 

 buff or cream ; back and rump white, many feathers with irregular 

 streaks or markings of sepia more or less concealed (amount of 

 streaking varies individually) ; upper tail-coverts white barred 

 sepia ; lores and cheeks white, streaked and spotted ash-brown ; 

 eye-stripe white, faintly spotted ash-brown ; chin and throat 

 white ; sides of neck and fore -neck white or pale drab narrowly 

 streaked ash-brown (streaks on fore-neck sometimes scarcely per 



>- -v4 x v 



^\ 



The Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa I. lapponica). 



ceptible) ; breast more or less clouded palest drab (sometimes with 

 one or two ash-brown bars) ; sides of breast ash-brown, feathers 

 with narrow sepia shaft -streaks ; sides of belly, flanks and under 

 tail-coverts white, some feathers irregularly barred and marked 

 sepia ; belly and vent white ; axillaries white, barred, marked or 

 streaked ash-brown or sepia ; under wing-coverts same but mark- 

 ings more or less concealed, under primary-coverts more or less 

 shaded pale ash-brown ; tail-feathers ash-brown or sepia, edged, 

 mottled and more or less irregularly barred white (sometimes 

 regularly barred but pattern varies individually) ; primaries sepia 

 or black-brown with white shafts, paler on inner webs which are 

 freckled or margined white for about three-quarters of their length 

 from base, inner ones tipped and narrowly edged white on inner 

 webs ; secondaries sepia or ash-brown paler on inner webs, tipped 

 and edged white (sometimes with white shaft -streak) inner webs 

 mottled white towards base, innermost and coverts as scapulars ; 



