AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
47 
Upper blackish-brown much marked and spotted buff; 
under, line past eye buff; arched bill 1.7in. Insects, 
worms. 
2 96 Barred-rumped Godwit (Pacific), Kuaka, Limosa, 
5 novae-zealandiae {lapponica, Am.O.U.), Alaska, Cali- 
fornia; B. Sib. to A., T., N.Z., Oceania =vt. Eur. 
Barred-tailed Godwit Mig. c. shores 15 
Upper brownish-gray marked whitish; rump, tail barred 
brown, white; abdomen white; legs brownish-black; 
broad, indistinct whitish eyebrow; bill long, slightly up- 
turned; f., larger. Shellfish, worms, sand-hoppers. 
97 Black-tailed Godwit, L, limosa, Br. Eur., N. Afr., India, 
E. Sib., Japan to A., Greenland (ace), may be a dis- 
tinct species than called L. melanuroides. 
Mig. v.r. shallow lakes 16 
Upper grayish-brown; wing white band flying; lower-back 
blackish-brown; upper base tail white; tail black, white 
at side at base; neck, breast, flanks grayish-brown; 
abdomen white; bill long, slightly upturned; f., larger. 
Insects, pond snails, worms. 
1 98 Common Sandpiper, Summer Snipe, Tringoides hypo- 
2 leucus, Eur. (Br.), N. Asia, Afr., Ind., to A. (ace). 
Mig. u. shores, lakes 8 
Upper pale-brown marked darker; wing-quills slightly 
tipped white; centre tail feathers glossy-brown, side 
feathers white barred brown; under white; chest 
marked pale-brown; indistinct pale eyebrow; tail con- 
stantly jerked; f., sim. Water-insects, shellfish. 
1 99 Greenshank, Glottis nedularius, Br., Eastern hemi- 
1 sphere, Florida (ace). Mig. r. shores, lakes 14 
Pace, under, tail white; sides of breast streaked brown; 
edge of tail barred freckled brown; crown, hind-neck 
gray; wings dark-brown; upper light-brown; legs deep 
olive-green; f., sim. Shellfish, worms. 
in the Lady of the Lake, when Fitz James found the hillside alive 
with Roderick Dhu's warriors. 
The White-headed Stilt, or Long-legged Plover, is one of five 
species spread throughout the world. Some people have pre- 
tended to pity the Stilt for being one of Nature's misfits, but 
surely they never saw the bird in a state of nature enjoying life, 
and gaining an easy living on shallow tidal flats, its long legs 
being a beautiful adaptation to the environment in which it lives. 
The Banded Stilt is a purely Australian bird, and has no repre- 
sentative in other countries. These and some other shore-birds 
live about tidal flats, and get their food in the soft mud. Their 
long bill is often flexible, and the tip is sometimes well supplied 
with nerves, so that it is sensitive. The bird can thus detect, in 
the soft mud, any animal that would serve for food. It can then 
open its bill enough to catch the animal without trouble. The 
Avocet's bill is sharply curved upwards, and is one of the most 
