THE GODWITS. 
309 
■tvo ; pee-ler-'ivee-too ; wie-ioo ; wce-too. This is the complete 
song, but frequently only fragments are sung, as when the bird 
is in pursuit of the female.” 
Nest. — According to Mr. E. W. Nelson, “it is merely a shal- 
low depression in the ground formed by the bird’s body in the 
soft moss, and without a trace of lining.” 
Eggs. — Four in number. Of these Mr. Nelson gives the 
following description : — “ The ground-colour varies from a 
greenish-clayey-olive to a light greyish or clay-colour. The 
spots are large, well-defined, and scattered sparsely, except 
about the tip of large end, where they are crowded. These 
spots are dark umber-brown, and present a striking contrast to 
the ground-colour.” Axis, i’8; diam., I'a. 
THE GODWITS. GENUS LIMOSA. 
Limosa, Briss. Orn. v. p. 261 (1760). 
Type, L. lapponica (L.). 
The Godwits are distinguished from the Curlews by their 
straight bill. This is very long, and exceeds the tail in length ; 
it is also slightly upturned, and is longer in the female than in 
the male. 
Five species of Godwits are recognised, of which two are 
British, though neither of them breed within our limits. The 
Bar-tailed Godwit (Z. lapponica) has an eastern representative, 
Z. nm}iB zealandicE, and Z. limosa is also an Old World species, 
while two, Z. hudsonica and Z. fedoa, are American. These 
birds breed in the high north, but migrate so far south in 
winter that the range of the genus may be said to be almost 
cosmopolitan. 
I. THE B.\R-TAILED GODWIT. I.IMOSA L.APPONICA. 
Scolopax lapponica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 246 (1766). 
Limosa rufa, Briss.; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 260 (1852). 
Limosa lapponica, Dresser, B. Eur. viii. p. 203, pi. 573, fig. i 
pi. 574, fig. 2 (1872); B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 177 
(1883); Saunders, ed. Yarrell’s Brit. B. iii.p. 494 (1883); 
id. Man. Brit. B. p. 607 (1889) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. 
B. part xxii. (1892); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. 
P- 373 (1896)- 
