TELL-TALE TATLER. 
317 
deed, I have found it in almost every district, and at all seasons. It spends 
the winter along the shores of our estuaries, rivers, and ponds, and in the 
rice-fields, from Maryland to Mexico. It is abundant then in South Caro- 
lina, the Floridas, and along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, as far as 
Texas, where I found it in considerable numbers and paired, in the months 
of April and May, along with the Yellow-shank Snipe, Totanus jlavipes. 
It is also met with in spring and autumn over the whole interior of the 
country, and I have found it quite abundant at those seasons along the entire 
length of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers, as well as on the 
Arkansas. They congregate in great numbers in the inland marshes of 
Florida, and along its rivers, during the winter. I found them near East- 
port, in the State of Maine, on the lith of May, 1833; and on the coast of 
Labrador, on the 18th of June of the same year. In Newfoundland, on 
the 11th of August, the young were equal in size to their parents, and 
being extremely fat, tender, and juicy, afforded excellent eating. In general, 
however, these birds are thin and have a fishy taste. 
In the State of Maine and the province of New Brunswick, the Tell-tale 
is known by the name of “ Humility,” which, however, is an appellation 
that ill accords with its vociferous habits. The Creoles of New Orleans 
call it “ Clou-clou and were these syllables rapidly enunciated from two 
to five times in succession, the sounds would have some resemblance to the 
usual notes of the species. 
When these God wits arrive in the vicinity of New Orleans about the 
middle of March, they appear in considerable flocks. They retire, however, 
in the beginning of May, and return about the first of July, from which time 
they continue thereuntil the end of autumn, some indeed remaining all win- 
ter. It seems, that at the period of their disappearance at New Orleans, they 
retire to the vast marshes near the sea-shore, and there breed, for I have 
found them abundant near the passes or mouths of the Mississippi in pairs, 
on the first of April, when the air is warmer than in the interior. They are 
said to breed in the marshes along the coast of New Jersey, where, accord- 
ing to Wilson, they arrive early in April, and continue until November. It 
is a curious fact that the Tell-tale Godwit, as well as some other birds of 
similar habits, is of very rare occurrence along the shores of Massachusetts 
and Maine. This, however, seems to be accounted for by the absence there 
of the large spongy marshes, to which these birds are fond of resorting. 
Although found in the vicinity of both salt and fresh water, at all seasons, 
it usually prefers the latter, and the spots which appear to be best adapted to 
its nature are ponds of which the water is shallow and the shores muddy, so 
that they can walk and wade at ease upon them. Wherever such ponds 
occur, whether in plantations or in the interior of forests, or on extensive 
Vol,. Y. 45 
