THE COMMON OR BAR-TAILED GODWIT. 
225 
sea-sliore. They appeared quite happy. It was interesting to 
observe their natural habit of driving the point of the bill into 
their soft oozy feeding-ground^ here exemplified by several of 
them at the same moment probing the layer of straw with 
which the floor of their residence was covered. The third day on 
which I paid my respects to them was very cold in the shade ; the 
wind easterly. They all had their biUs wholly buried in their 
dorsal plumage^ and most of them had their eyes closed ; but they 
nevertheless kept continuously callings without in the least degree 
changing their attitudes or moving the bill from its state of repose. 
Occasionally, two or three would call at the same moment, the 
rule among them seeming to be that a continuous note was 
essential. It was amusing to behold the vibration of the body of 
the bird, when, — supported on only one leg, — the call was 
uttered with the bill engulphed^^ in the plumage of the back. 
A ruff in the same aviary with them, as observed on one of the 
warm days, seemed also quite contentedly at home, and displayed 
the well-known pugnacity of the species, by striking with his 
bill any of the godwits that came within his reach. On one of 
the warm days, he took possession, for a time, of a large shallow 
pan of water, and would not suffer a godwit to partake of, or 
cool its feet in the liquid. 
THE COMMON OE BAE-TAILED GODWIT. 
Limosa rufa, Brisson. 
Scolopax Lapponica, Linn. 
Is a regular autumnal visitant, remaining occasionally 
until spring. 
From the manner in which the best British ornithologists speak 
of the two species of godwit in Great Britain, it would seem that 
the bar-tailed is more common, and the black-tailed more rare, 
in Ireland than in that island. 
The oozy banks of Belfast Bay are a favourite resort of the 
VOL. II. Q 
