3i6 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
left its nest perhaps a thousand yards ahead, nor will it usually 
return thereto until it has made itself pretty confident that the 
danger has disappeared. To find the nest, therefore, is no 
easy matter. Indeed, after considerable experience,'! may 
say that few birds are so cautious at their nests as Godwits, 
and even after the nest ha.s, after long search, been luckily dis- 
covered, still the old birds never come within range of ordinary 
gun-shot. The general cry of these waders, when not dis- 
tressed, may be syllabled as ‘ tu ee-tood,' often repeated; but 
they have a variety of eries, their distress-call being a clamorous 
wail, not unlike that of a Common Buzzard, though, of course, 
not so loud.” In food and general habits the present species 
resembles the Bar-tailed Godwit. 
Nest.— Those found by Mr. Chapman were mere depressions 
in the moss, without any special lining material. “ The date 
of laying,” he writes, “seems to vary considerably, for on May 
loth we found our first nest, containing four very hard-set 
eggs, which must have been laid about the last week in April. 
Then, on May 13th we not only found a nest containing four 
fresh eggs, but we were also fortunate enough to discover a brood 
of young ones, perhaps two days old. It should be mentioned, 
in explanation, that we had thrice tried to find this last nest ; 
but the bird always rose from a different part of the marsh, 
which led us to believe that she must have young, and it was 
while making, after a long watch, a final effort to find the eggs, 
that we accidentally stumbled on the young birds in the long 
grass. On one occasion, after we had been lying for some 
time pretty well concealed, we noticed, through the binoculars, 
a Godwit walking and running towards us, until it eventually 
disappeared quite suddenly. VVe thought that it might have 
sat down on the nest, so we marked the place carefully, and 
then stood up ; the bird instantly rose about 150 yards from 
us, and on walking straight to the spot, we were delighted to 
find the nest with four olive-green eggs. In another instance 
we observed two birds playing together in the air, over a certain 
part of the bog, in such a manner, that our suspicions were 
sufficiently aroused to cause us to cross the quaking surface, 
until we actually walked right on to the nest and its four eggs.” 
Eggs.— Four in number, very similar to those of Z. lapponka. 
