246 
SCOLOPACIN^. LIMOSA. 
GENUS V. LIMOSA, Briss. GODWIT. 
Bill very long, slender, subcylindrical, tapering to an ob- 
tuse point, slightly recurved ; upper mandible with the dor- 
sal line slightly curved upwards, the ridge convex, the sides 
with a narrow groove extending almost to the point, the 
edges rather obtuse, the tip very slightly enlarged ; lower 
mandible with the angle very long and extremely narrow, 
the sides with a narrow groove extending almost to the end, 
the edges blunt, the tip obtuse. Nostrils basal, linear, 
nearer the edge. Head small, oblong ; neck rather long, 
slender; body slender. Feet long and slender ; tibia bare 
for about a third, anteriorly scutellate ; tarsus long, slender, 
scutellate before and behind ; toes small, slender, scutellate 
above ; anterior connected by webs at the base, first very 
small. Claws small, compressed, slightly arched, obtuse. 
Plumage soft and blended. Wings rather long, narrow, 
very acute ; primaries tapering, the first longest, the inner 
secondaries elongated. Tail short, even, of twelve narrow 
rounded feathers. 
349. 1. Limosa Fedoa, Linn. Great Marbled Godwit. 
Plate CCXXXVIII. Male and Female. 
Bill dull flesh-colour at the base, black ish-brown toward the end ; 
feet bluish-grey ; head and neck light yellowish-grey, streaked with 
dusky ; the rest of the upper parts spotted and barred with brownish- 
black and greyish-yellow ; alula and primary coverts brownish-black, 
as are the outer webs of the first three quills, those of the other prima- 
ries, and both webs of the secondaries, reddish-ochre, all more or less 
finely mottled with dusky, and the primaries of that colour towards 
the end, but with the terminal margins whitish ; the inner secondaries 
barred like the back, as are the tail-feathers ; breast', abdomen, and 
lower surface of wings, light reddish-yellow, the axillar feather of a 
deeper tint, the sides faintly barred with dusky. 
ilfh/e, 16i, 284. Female, 204. 
Passes in spring from Texas along the coast, in immense flocks, to 
Massachusetts, and apparently across the land, to the Saskatchewan, 
where it breeds. None seen in Labrador. A few breed in South Caro- 
lina, perhaps also in Texas. Not observed in the Western Country. In 
autumn returns southward beyond the limits of the United States. 
