vertheless kept continually calling, without in the least degree changing their attitudes or

A
Hy closed ; but they ne
of repose. Occasionall

| | | moving the bill from its state
that a continuous note was essential.
the call was uttered with the bill ‘
and displayed the well-known pugnacity of the species

On one of the warm days he took pos-

y two or three would call at the same moment, thie rule
It was amusing to see the vibration of the body of the
engulfed ’ in the plumage of the back.

 

seeming to be
iH iH) i bird when, supported on one leg,
WA A A Ruff in the same aviary seemed also quite contented,
y of the Godwits that came within reach.

| wii by striking with its bill an
pan of water, and would not suffer a Godwit to partake of, or to cool its

HH | HN iH
| | | 5 5
WIA session for a time of a large shallow
WH feet in, the liquid.”
The Black-tailed Godwit is distributed over the whol

In England it is most frequently seen In spring
Mr. Rodd states that it has been killed at the Land’s-

e of Europe, wherever situations suitable to its habits
. occur. and autumn, during its passage to, and return from,
HT] its bree

| ding-grounds in high northern latitudes.
| ec
| end, but that-it is uncommon In Cornwall ;

Macgillivray says it is never very abundant in Scotland; and

i land in autumn and winter in very limited numbers. Fabricius
tH mentions tha nland; and Reinhardt that, after his time, but one
more example bad been said to have been obtained there. Mr. Alfred Newton states that, according to Faber,
eek in April, and adds :—‘ I do not know that any naturalist has found its
It seems to be rare (if it occurs at all) in the north.

Thompson that it frequents the coast of Ire
t he had only seen a single specimen in Gree

|
WN it arrives in Iceland during the last w
eggs in Iceland, but I have little doubt it breeds there.
in the flesh at Reykjavik, towards the end of June.” Wheelwright says it is a summer
a bird of passage in Algeria ; Swinhoe informs us that it 1s ‘‘ said

I obtained a fine pair
visitant to Lapland ; Loche states that it is
nce it is brought to the Tientsin and Shanghai markets

to be found on lakes and inland marshes in China, whe
It is probably from Mantchuria that these birds come. ‘Temminck and Schlegel note it from
Jerdon it is “ found throughout India during the cold weather, generally in large

 

lil MM in winter.”
\} Japan. According to Mr.
| | flocks at the edge of water.”
| Mr. Hewitson states that the ‘eggs, which are four in number, differ considerably in size and colouring,
NY some being of a uniform light olive-brown, and almost spotless, while others have the surface sprinkled with
hy small but distinctly marked spots. Mr. Hoy informed me, in 1836, that on the Continent the nest is composed
of dry grass and other vegetables, and is concealed amongst the herbage of the low swamps and meadows,
HN and that the birds when disturbed are clamorous, flying round the intruder, and vociferating the cry of grutto,
HH | i] } | | grutto, grutto, whence they have received their name among the people of Holland.”
| . The food of the Black-tailed Godwit consists of insects and their larvae, worms and other soft-bodied
| animals. Great difference exists in the size of the sexes, the female being nearly a third larger than the
male, and frequently more richly coloured during the months of spring.
A male killed in April 1867 had the head and neck pale rufous, conspicuously striped with dark brown
on the head; back and scapularies rufous, crossed by broad irregular bands of black, the last of which,
assumed on some of the feathers, the shape of a large blotch ; basal portion of the feathers brownish

 

 

 

| | |

| HH grey; tips of the scapularies white; wing-coverts dark-greyish brown, with paler margins, approaching to
| white 5 greater sore and wings dark brown, with white shafts, the tips of the coverts and the base of the
Bore oe eee sn pas a See : most of the lengthened tertiaries
| | grey, each feather narrowly pane = cs as ; ee oe a ae a ae a a
: eel ee ote rump and upper tail-coverts pure white ; tail-feathers white at
the base, black for the remainder of their length, except at the tip, where they were fringed with greyish white,
the amount of the black slightly decreasing as the feathers receded from the centre ‘ breast rufous, barred
with black and white, which latter gradually increased until the under surface became ones with a Few bars
of dark brown on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; bill yellow at the base, dark brown at the tip; legs dark

olive-green. ae
In the winter the head and neck are greyish olive-brown, and the back dark olive-brown. As the spring

 

advances, a chi s ak ‘ 1 |
: , a change of feathers takes place, the brownish olive colouring of the back giving place to cross
markings of red and black, and by May the transformation is complete
i The weight of the female is 13 0z., of the male 10 oz
) . The Plat res c oe
| ate represents a male and a female of the size of life—the male in change from its olive-brown dress
to the rufous one of summer, and the female in her usual brown dress