No. V.] 



ZOOLOGY. 



689 



narrow bands of dingy white ; legs naked an inch and a quarter above the knee ; 

 tarse full two inches long; toes slender ; legs entirely yellow. 



Limosa Fedoa. American Godwit. 



The specimen is of a male, killed at Carlton-House on the 20th of May, when 

 the colours of the plumage are in the brilliant breeding state. The genus Limosa, 

 which contains this Godwit, has been separated from the Linnaean genus of Scolopax 

 by Beckstein, and adopted by subsequent writers ; the name of Limosa originated 

 with Brisson. This species appears to have been first published by Edwards, whose 

 description is of a male, and is excellent. There seems to be much variation in the 

 length of the bill ; in some individuals it has been described as being six 

 inches long ; in the present specimen it was only four inches. The names of 

 this bird have been various : it is usually called the Curlew in Hudson's Bay ; 

 Wilson calls it the Great Marbled Godwit ; Pennant, the Great Godwit ; Brisson, 

 La Barge Rousse d'Amerique ; and Buffon, La Barge Rousse de la Baie d'Hudson. 

 It breeds in the north, migrating far to the southward in winter, and is met with in 

 the intermediate countries, in spring and autumn, on passage. Wilson has figured 

 a female, which differs from the male in having no black markings on the breast, 

 and probably also in being less highly coloured. His description of the bird is 

 good. 



Limosa Melanura. Black-tailed Godwit. 



Breeds in the marshes of the country round Hudson's Bay, but does not go so far 

 south as the territories of the United States ; at least, the bird not having been 

 noticed by Wilson, is negative evidence to that point. This species, which 

 exhibits, according to its age or the period of the year, great variety of appear- 

 ance in some parts of its plumage, may be readily distinguished by its tail being a 

 uniform black at all times, with a broad band of white at the base, the feathers 

 being very slightly tipped with white or dusky. In the different states of its 

 autumn and spring plumage, the Black-tailed Godwit has been mistaken for 

 distinct species, and is found in Latham's Index and Synopsis, as the Scolopax 

 Lapponica or Red Godwit, and Scolopax Limosa or Jaduka Snipe. Specimens of 

 both having come into the possession of Colonel a Montagu, he was of opinion after 

 much investigation, that they were not identical ; the ultimate determination of the 

 question was therefore reserved for M. Temminck, who has described the bird under 

 its various appearances, and has adopted Leister's name, as indicative of its pecu- 

 liar character. Two specimens were received, one of which was a young bird, 

 and the other mature, in plumage intermediate between its winter and breeding 

 state. 



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