Part 121

Plate CCLXXIV. Fig. 1. Male in spring. Fig. 2. Female in winter.

Bill nearly a half longer than the head, rather stout, light blue, dusky toward the end; feet long, rather stout, light blue, the basal membranes large. In summer, the head and neck brownish-grey, streaked with blackish-brown; throat and a band from the bill over the eye white; fore part of back and scapulars brownish-grey, variegated with central marks of blackish-brown; third part of back brownish-grey with a gloss of olive; wing-coverts grey, with central lines of brownish-black; primary coverts and primary quills brownish-black, the latter white in their basal half; outer secondaries white, inner like the scapulars; lower wing-coverts and axillar feathers blackish-brown; breast and sides white, the latter transversely undulated with brownish-black; abdomen, and lower and upper tail-coverts white, with a few dusky bars; four middle tail-feathers barred with brownish-black and brownish-grey, the rest pale grey, fading to white on the outer, and all more or less minutely undulated with pale brownish-grey.

Male, 15-1/2, 27-3/4. Female, 15-1/2, 31.

Breeds abundantly in Texas, and along the Atlantic shores to New York, sparingly as far as Massachusetts. Constant resident in the Southern States. Rare in the interior.

Semipalmated Snipe, Scolopax semipalmata, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 27.

Totanus semipalmatus, Semipalmated Tatler, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 388.

Semipalmated Snipe or Willet, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 144.

Semipalmated Snipe or Willet, Totanus semipalmatus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 510; v. v. p. 585.

GENUS V. LIMOSA, Briss. GODWIT.

Bill very long, slender, subcylindrical, tapering to an obtuse point, slightly recurved; upper mandible with the dorsal 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, blackish-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 primaries, 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.

Male, 16-1/2, 28-1/2. Female, 20-1/2.

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 Carolina, perhaps also in Texas. Not observed in the Western Country. In autumn returns southward beyond the limits of the United States.

Great Marbled Godwit, Scolopax Fedoa, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 30.

Limosa Fedoa, Bonap. Syn. p. 328.

Limosa Fedoa, Great Marbled Godwit, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 395.

Great Marbled Godwit, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 173.

Great Marbled Godwit, Limosa Fedoa, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 287; v. v. p. 590.

350. 2. Limosa Hudsonica, Lath. Hudsonian Godwit.

Plate CCLVIII. Adult, Male, and Young Female.

Bill greyish-yellow, dark brown along the ridge of the upper mandible, and blackish toward the tips of both; feet light greyish-blue; head and neck brownish-grey, with darker lines; a band from the bill over the eye, and the throat, greyish-white; back deep grey, the scapulars brownish-black, with small white markings on the edges of the feathers; smaller wing-coverts, alula, primary quills, and their coverts brownish-black; secondaries lighter, and with their inner webs pale grey; tips of primary coverts and bases of quills white, as is a broad band over the rump; tail-feathers and upper tail-coverts brownish-black, their bases white; lower parts bright yellowish-red, the sides mottled with dark brown; abdomen and lower tail-coverts paler and variegated with dusky; lower wing-coverts blackish-brown, edged with whitish. Young in winter with the lower parts pale brownish-grey, the upper brownish-grey, the fore part of the back and scapular brownish-black, the feathers edged with light brownish-red, wing-coverts brownish-grey.

Male, 15-3/4, 28. Female, 16-3/4, 29.

Rather rare along the Atlantic Districts in spring and autumn. Breeds in the barren grounds of the Arctic seas in great numbers. Migratory.

Scolopax hudsonica, Lath. Ind. Orn. v. ii. p. 720.

Limosa hudsonica, Hudsonian Godwit, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 396.

Hudsonian Godwit, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 175.