Chapter XIX: Introduction (18)

_Plumages._--The nestling Pacific godwit is warmly covered with long, thick, soft down, the prevailing colors of which are warm buff and sepia, in indistinct patterns; none of the markings are clearly defined, as in the sandpipers, but are soft and blended. The large circular crown patch is clear "warm sepia," extending in a median stripe down to the bill; there is a narrow loral stripe from the bill to the eye and a broader one, though less distinct, from the eye to the occiput, both "warm sepia"; above these, broad stripes of grayish buff extend from the lores to the occiput, nearly encircling the dark crown, from which a median stripe of the sepia extends down the neck. The back, wings, and thighs are softly variegated with "warm sepia," "wood brown," and "cinnamon buff." The under parts are largely "pinkish buff," suffused with "cinnamon buff" on the breast and fading out to nearly white on the chin. The down is all dusky or dark sepia at the base.

In fresh juvenal plumage, as seen in Alaska in August, the crown is streaked with sepia, the feathers edged with light buff; the feathers of the mantle, scapulars, tertials, and wing coverts are sepia or dusky, edged or notched with light buff; the rump and upper tail coverts are white, but much more heavily spotted with dusky than in the European form; the remiges are all conspicuously barred with dusky and light buff; the buff edgings fade out almost to white later on; the under parts are dull buffy whitish, shaded on the chest with deeper grayish buff. A postjuvenal molt begins in September, at which the body plumage is renewed, but not the remiges and few, if any, of the rectrices; most of the wing coverts are retained and some of the tertials. The resulting first winter plumage is like that of the adult except for the wings and tail.

At the first prenuptial molt the next spring the sexes begin to differentiate, the males being more richly colored with more cinnamon feathers in the white under parts, and the females have the throat and breast more or less streaked with sepia. This molt is incomplete and irregular, with much individual variation in the advance toward maturity. Sometimes there is very little or no molt, the worn winter plumage being retained until summer; sometimes new winter feathers are acquired; but usually some or many of the body feathers, the tail, and some tertials and wing coverts are molted and replaced with feathers like the adult. The new tail feathers of the first nuptial plumage are plain gray, unbarred. Birds in this plumage are found on their breeding grounds and probably breed at this age.

At the next molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter plumage is assumed by a complete molt from July to December. Adults have a partial prenuptial molt, between February and May, which involves most of the body plumage, usually the tail, some of the tertials, and some of the wing coverts; they also have a complete postnuptial molt beginning with the body plumage in July or August. In the adult nuptial plumage the central pair of tail feathers are barred completely; the others are usually plain gray, but sometimes the outer pair or two are partially barred.

_Food._--Very little has been published on this subject. William Palmer (1899) says:

In the ponds they feed by keeping their bills in the water and move
invariably all in the same direction, heads to the wind. With care
I could approach within a few feet. Much the greater part of the
stomach contents of these birds consisted of hundreds of minute
threadlike aquatic larvae of a midge (_Chironomis_). Pieces of
mollusks' shell had been swallowed by several of the birds. Flies,
closely related to our common house fly, and tiger beetles were
detected in small quantities. Of the six godwits, five had been
killed on St. Paul Island, and had fed for the most part upon
midges, which were probably abundant in a fresh-water pond on the
island. The sixth bird was taken on Walrus Island. It had caught
over 500 specimens of a species of beetle (_Aegialites debilis_),
the sole representative of a unique family of beetles, described
some time ago and subsequently lost sight of until recently
discovered again.

The above report on stomach contents was made by Dr. S. D. Judd and has been amended by Preble and McAtee (1923), who report that the items of food, ranked by bulk, are flies, 76.6 per cent; beetles, 17; mollusks, 3.6; marine worms, 1.3; and vegetable matter, 1 per cent. The jaws of marine worms (Nereidae) were mistaken for jaws of tiger beetles.

_Behavior._--Doctor Nelson (1887) writes:

They frequent open grassy parts of the country and are quick to
protest against an invasion of their territory. As a person
approaches, one after the other of the birds arises and comes
circling about, uttering a loud _ku-wew_ with such energy as to
make the ears fairly ring. If their nests are near, or they have
young, they come closer and closer, some of the boldest swooping
close by one's head and redoubling the din. This same note is heard
upon all sides while the birds conduct their courtships, and it
serves also to express their anger and alarm. At the mating season
the males have a rolling whistle also like that of the ordinary
field plover, but shorter. When the birds fly at this time they
hold the wings decurved and stiffened and make a few rapid strokes,
then glide for a short distance. On the ground it walks gracefully,
its head well raised, and frequently pauses to raise its wings high
over the back and then deliberately folds them. They may be decoyed
when flying in flocks if their whistling note be imitated. If
wounded and taken in hand, they utter a loud, harsh scream.

Mr. Brandt says in his notes:
The Pacific godwit has wonderful powers of flight, and, as it
wheels about protesting against an intrusion, the slightest beat of
its long, decurved wings seems, without perceptible effort, to
drive it forward like an arrow from the bow. That its power of
flight is extraordinary is shown by the fact that it spends the
winter time of the north in southern Australia and New Zealand. It
migrates along the eastern coast of Asia and is one of the
interesting Old World birds that find their northeastern limit on
the Alaskan shores of Bering Sea. During the love-making period,
shortly after this godwit's arrival on May 15, it could be heard
for an hour at a time high up in the air, as it circled about,
uttering continuously its wild far-reaching cry, which was very
distinctive among the medley of voices. The call of the male is
often answered by the female with the syllables, _tut-tut_, not
unlike a clucking chicken. The Pacific godwit differed from the
other shore birds nesting at Hooper Bay in that individuals in
immature plumage were breeding. Sometimes a gray-breasted immature
female would be paired with a rich plumaged male, or again both
mates would be in full color; but I encountered many pairs in which
both parents showed the light grayish breast of adolescence. In
fact, the immatures seemed to be in the majority. It is believed
that this godwit does not assume its fully adult feathers until the
beginning of the third year; but, like the bald eagle, it breeds
during the second year. The earliest spring arrivals at Hooper Bay
were immatures and they seemed to migrate in separate flocks. One
group of about 20 richly cinnamon-breasted adults stayed in our
vicinity for several days from May 20 onward. Perhaps they were
resting and feeding in preparation for the final stage of their
journey to more polar lands for they, as well as all the other
large flocks of godwits no doubt passed on to the north. The birds
that nested in the Hooper Bay region arrived in an inconspicuous
manner, simply filtering into their chosen haunts and were already
mated.

_Field-marks._--The Pacific godwit can be easily distinguished in the field from either of our two other American godwits. The marbled godwit has much more rufous in the upper parts, particularly in the wings, and has no white on the rump. The Hudsonian is very dark on the upper parts, almost black on the wings; it has a pure white rump and a black tail. The Pacific is dull brown above, with no rufous; it has a white rump, spotted with dusky, and a tail barred with dark gray and white.

_Fall._--Doctor Nelson (1887) says:

These godwits are among the first of the waders to leave Alaska in
fall. The young are flying by the middle of July and before the end
of August not one of these birds, young or old, is to be found.

Young birds apparently wander northward and eastward before they start on their southward migration, for they have been taken in August at Wainwright and at Point Barrow in company with young dowitchers and red-backed sandpipers.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--Alaska and eastern Asia south to Australia, New Zealand, and the Samoan Islands.

_Breeding range._--The Pacific godwit breeds from northeastern Siberia (Taimyr Peninsula, Marcova, and Nijni Kolymsk); east to western Alaska (Unalaska Island, Hooper Bay, Kotlik, Pastolik, Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Blossom, and Kowak River).

_Winter range._--The Malay Archipelago, Samoan and Fiji Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, and probably other islands of Oceanica.

_Migration._--The migration route of this species is almost entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere, through the Commander Islands, Japan, China, and the Philippines. They have been observed to arrive in Siberia on May 10 (Bering Island) and May 30 (Nijni Kolymsk) and in Alaska on May 15 (Hooper Bay), May 20 (St. Paul Island), and May 29 (Unalaska). After the breeding season, individuals have been known to wander north to the Colville delta and Point Barrow. The latest date of fall departure noted for Point Barrow is August 18 and for St. Michael September 10.

_Casual records._--One specimen obtained at La Paz, Lower California (Belding), and recorded as this species is now regarded as a marbled godwit, and there is one record from the island of Kauai, and several from Laysan, Hawaiian Islands (Bryan). A specimen taken on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on September 16, 1907, is referable to the European form _Limosa lapponica lapponica_.

_Egg dates._--Alaska: 15 records, May 25 to July 9; 8 records, May 29 to June 5.

LIMOSA HAEMASTICA (Linnaeus)

HUDSONIAN GODWIT

HABITS

I can count on the fingers of one hand the red-letter days when I have been privileged to see this rare and handsome wader. It has always been among the great desiderata of bird collectors. Its eggs are exceedingly rare in collections. Many ornithologists have never seen it in life. I can find no evidence that it was ever common. All the earlier writers reported it as uncommon or rare. Audubon (1840) referred to it as "of rare occurrence in any part of the United States." He never saw it in life and handled only a few market specimens in the flesh.

_Spring._--From its winter home in far southern South America the Hudsonian godwit migrates in spring by some unknown route to the coast of Texas, where it arrives in April. I saw three adults and collected a pair in fine spring plumage near Aransas Pass on May 17, 1923. From Texas and Louisiana it migrates northward through the Mississippi Valley, central Canada and the Mackenzie Valley to the Arctic coast. Prof. William Rowan in his notes refers to it as a scarce, but regular, spring migrant in Alberta; his dates are between April 29 and May 29. He and C. G. Harrold (1923) recorded 24 birds between these dates in 1923. Their records are as follows:

April 29, 2 flocks of 6 each (also 2 avocets on this date, although
on the 30th it snowed all day); May 7, 2 Hudsonians at the lake and
one with a party of marbled godwits at a muddy slough a few miles
away; May 8, a flock of 4 Hudsonian and 2 marbled; May 15, flock of
3 Hudsonian, 2 marbled, and 1 Willet; May 22, a fine male Hudsonian
with 8 or 9 marbled. One other specimen was seen flying over about
May 10.

At Whitewater Lake, in Manitoba, Mr. Harrold noted one each day on May 10 and 11, 1924, and 12 at the same place in 1925, practically all between May 13 and 20. I saw one at Lake Winnipegosis on June 5, 1913, a late date. On the Atlantic coast it is known only as a rare straggler in the spring and it is practically unknown on the Pacific coast.

_Nesting._--Practically all of what little we know of the nesting habits of the Hudsonian godwit is contained in Roderick MacFarlane's notes. A female and four eggs were taken near Fort Anderson on June 9, 1862, from a nest on the ground made of a "few decayed leaves lying in a small hole scooped in the earth." Another nest on the Lower Anderson was "on the borders of a small lake" and was made of "a few withered leaves placed in a hole or depression in the ground."

A set of four eggs, in the Thayer collection, was collected by Bishop J. O. Stringer at Mackenzie Bay, June 30, 1897, from "a nest situated in a hollow in the grass." Edward Arnold also has a set of four eggs, taken by Bishop Stringer in the same locality on June 29, 1899; the nest was "in a tuft of grass on an island in Mackenzie Bay."

_Eggs._--The Hudsonian godwit probably lays four eggs normally, though there are sets of three in collections. What few eggs I have seen, not over a baker's dozen, are ovate pyriform in shape and have little or no gloss. The ground colors vary from "dark olive buff" to "olive buff," or from "light brownish olive" to "ecrue olive." They are usually sparingly marked with rather obscure spots, irregularly distributed, but generally mostly around the larger end, in darker shades of similar colors, such as "buffy olive," "light brownish olive," "buffy brown," "bister," or "sepia." There are usually underlying spots of "hair brown" or shades of "drab," and some eggs have a few black dots at the larger end.

A set in the United States National Museum is thus described for me by J. H. Riley:

No two eggs in this set are alike. They vary in ground color from a
little darker than "citrine drab," through "light brownish olive,"
to "dark olive buff." The darkest egg has a zone of "olive brown"
spots at the larger end, with a few "clove brown" dots here and
there, and a few scattered spots and blotches of "olive brown" over
the rest of the egg. The next darkest egg is similar, but with the
contrast between the ground color and the "olive brown" zone more
pronounced and an increase in size and number of the "clove brown"
spots. The lightest ("dark olive buff" ground) egg has a solid cap
of "clove brown" at the larger end and quite numerous blotches,
scrawls, and spots of "clove brown" and "olive brown," with a few
shell markings of "drab" over the rest of the surface.

Some of the eggs I have seen are much like well-marked eggs of the black-tailed godwit. The measurements of 27 eggs average 55.2 by 38.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =60.6= by 39.6, 56 by =41.2=, and =51= by =35= millimeters.

_Plumages._--I have never seen a downy young Hudsonian godwit nor any very young juvenals. The sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage and probably all through the first year. The plumages are alike in winter but the females are somewhat larger. A young female in juvenal plumage, taken in Maine in September, is similar to the winter adult, except that the crown is more streaked with dusky; the feathers of the mantle are "sepia," edged with "pinkish cinnamon"; the scapulars and tertials are edged, notched, or barred with "cinnamon," and the tail is tipped with buffy white. I have seen birds in this plumage up to October 13; but usually the partial postjuvenal molt of the body plumage and probably some of the scapulars and tertials begins in October. Material is lacking to illustrate the first prenuptial molt, which takes place in South America. Probably this molt is very limited in young birds. A female, taken on May 28 in Wisconsin, probably in first nuptial plumage, shows a mixture of fresh adult nuptial body feathers both above and below, and fresh tail feathers, but the primaries are worn. Probably at the next molt, the first postnuptial, which is complete, the adult winter plumage is assumed.

Adults have an extensive prenuptial molt, involving everything but the wings and perhaps the tail. This is accomplished during the late winter or early spring before the birds migrate. Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) says:

A male shot March 7 is in full winter plumage with worn primaries
but newly grown tail feathers and lesser wing-coverts. Two females
shot March 8 have renewed the flight feathers and tail and have the
breeding plumage growing rapidly on the body.

The postnuptial molt is complete; the body molt begins in July and is well advanced towards completion when the birds reach our shores in August or September; the wings are apparently molted later, after the birds reach their winter homes in South America. There is a striking difference between the richly colored nuptial plumage and the dull and somber winter plumage, with the brownish gray upper parts and the pale grayish buff under parts.

Strangely enough, all the recent manuals that I have seen state or imply that the sexes are alike in nuptial plumage; and this in spite of the fact that many years ago Swainson and Richardson (1831) called attention to the striking difference between the two sexes, which are decidedly unlike. In the male the underparts are deep, rich brown, "Mikado brown" or "Kaiser brown," with much individual variation in the amount of black transverse barring, which is sometimes almost entirely lacking in the center of the breast. In the female, which is always somewhat larger, the under parts are barred with white, dusky, and brown; the feathers of the flanks are brown with three or four black or dusky bars and broad white tips; on the breast only the outer half of the feather is brown, the remainder is white, with two or three dusky bars and a broad white tip. Careless sexing may have caused the oft-repeated error.

_Food._--Edward H. Forbush (1925) says that "the food of the Hudsonian godwit includes worms, many insects (including horseflies and mosquitoes), mollusks and crustaceans, and various small forms of marine life."

_Behavior._--He also says:

While with us it seems to have a preference for sandy shores and
sand spits, but it also frequents mud flats, beaches, and creeks in
the salt marsh, and sometimes goes to the uplands after insects.

Dr. L. C. Sanford (1903), writing of the habits of the Hudsonian godwit in the Magdalen Islands, says:

On the islands where these birds congregate they frequent the large
open lagoons where the low tide leaves exposed miles of sand bars.
Here they follow the water's edge and wade in up to the full length
of their long legs, feeding on animalculae and small larvae, for
which their bill is peculiarly adapted, having the same flexible
tip as that of the Wilson's snipe. With the rising water, first the
small sandpipers, then the larger birds are driven from the flats;
last of all, the godwit. They start in flocks of from 10 to 20 and
keep well in the center of the lagoon, flying over the flooded
flats, avoiding carefully all land, even the farthest points and
islands.

The long black lines of birds undulating in their flight can
readily be distinguished from any other shore bird. They have a
very dark appearance. In a short half hour the last flocks have
passed and there is no further flight until the next tide. At high
water they congregate on the upper beaches, well out of reach of
any disturber. For a long time it was impossible to arrange a
blind in the range of the flight, but finally by piling up heaps
of seaweed and staking them down far out in the shallow water, we
managed to kill a small number. They quickly learned the danger,
however, and would keep on their course just out of reach.

Dr. D. G. Elliot (1895) writes:

Like the other godwit, its larger relative, it is a shy bird during
migration and keeps a watchful eye on an intruder in its domain,
rising at a considerable distance and uttering its shrill cry. It
sometimes decoys readily, setting its wings and sailing up to the
wooden counterfeits, lured on by a close imitation of its note, but
soon discovers the deception and either alights only for a moment
or else wheels about over the decoys, and hastily departs, provided
it escapes the rain of shot from the discharged gun of the
concealed sportsman. About Hudson's Bay it is met with in large
flocks, resorting to the beach when the tide is low, and feeding on
the crustacea it discovers there, retiring to the marshes as the
tide rises.

Professor Rowan writes to me:

Like the majority of waders, this godwit can swim with ease and has
been observed swimming of its own accord when crossing from one
sand ridge to another, and also when dropped into deep water after
being shot in flight but not killed.

The flight of the species is distinctly "ploverish." The greater
contrast, against its white parts, of its darker balance makes it
distinguishable at considerable distance from the willet when in
flight. They can easily be mistaken for each other if casually
observed, especially in the grey plumage of young and fall adults.

In walking this godwit has much the same attitudes of the marbled,
generally very ungraceful and altogether hunched up, neck closely
drawn into the body. It is, however, altogether warier than the
marbled and carries its neck stretched out more frequently.

On the whole it is an extremely silent species. I have seen dozens
of birds but have only heard a call twice. This sounded like
_ta-it_ on both occasions, less raucous than the marbles call but
in general quite reminiscent of it.

Doctor Wetmore (1926) says:

In plain gray winter plumage this godwit is as inconspicuous and
nondescript in appearance as a willet. In general size it suggests
a greater yellow-legs, but can be distinguished at any distance by
its quiet carriage, for it does not practice the constant tilting
that is the habit of the yellow-legs. These godwits sought company
with scattered flocks of stilts or smaller shore birds, and in
feeding walked rapidly, at times in water nearly to their bodies or
again in the shallows. As they moved they probed rapidly and
constantly in the mud with a nervous thrusting motion, often with
the beak immersed clear to their eyes. Morsels of food that were
encountered were passed rapidly up the length of the bill and
swallowed. When their movements carried them too near the stilts
the latter hustled them about, and made them run rapidly to escape
their bills, but in spite of this discouragement the godwits
remained in as close proximity as permitted to their belligerent
neighbors, perhaps, because of similarity in feeding habit. Some
Hudsonian godwit gave a low chattering call when flushed, a low
_qua qua_ that resembled one of the notes of _L. fedoa_. As they
extend the wings to fly the dark axillars show as a patch of black
and in flight the white tail, with black band across the tip is
prominent. The birds are hunted to such an extent that they are
exceedingly wary. When opportunity offered I took only a few for
specimens.

Referring to their habits in Alberta, C. G. Harrold (1923) says:

The individuals in the parties seen on April 29 were feeding very
close together like dowitchers. Not a single bird was seen on dry
land and most of them were wading about in water 4 inches to 6
inches deep, one bird swimming after the manner of a yellow-legs
which has waded out of its depth. Although the Hudsonian godwits
associate with the marbled, the latter bully them considerably,
chasing them away if they approach the marbled too closely when
feeding.

_Voice._--Mr. Harrold (1923) says that "their call note is a soft _chip_ (very unlike the harsh notes of the vociferous marbled), and when alarmed they utter a low sandpiper-like chattering." They are usually very silent birds.

_Field marks._--In spring plumage the Hudsonian godwit can be recognized easily at almost any distance by the rich brown underparts, almost black upper parts, white rump, and black tail; at a long distance it looks very black. On the wing in all plumages the white rump and black tail are conspicuous and the wings are diagnostic; the axillars are jet black and the lining of the wing is black; the wings are nearly black, with a small, central white patch, much smaller than that of the willet. An immature bird while standing, might be mistaken for a willet, but it is a much slenderer bird and has a longer, slenderer bill.

_Fall._--Hudsonian godwits gather in flocks on the western shores of Hudson Bay, preparing for their eastward migration to the Atlantic coasts of the Maritime Provinces and New England. The normal migration route is probably over the ocean from Nova Scotia to British Guiana or Brazil, the birds being seen in New England and Long Island only when driven in by severe storms.

E. A. Preble (1902) saw a number on the beach about 50 miles north of York Factory as early as July 19, and it was last seen by him below Cape Churchill on August 24, 1900. This was the beginning of the eastward migration from Hudson Bay. The species is practically unknown in the interior of southern Canada in the fall.

Doctor Sanford (1903) writes:

I have seen these birds on some of the islands in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence in large flocks. They arrive late in July, the first
comers being steadily augmented by new arrivals until by the first
week of August their greatest abundance has been reached. From this
time on the numbers rapidly decrease, and by the last of the month
only odd birds are seen. The young appear about the middle of
September, and until October 1 are common in the same locations. On
the adjacent mainland and the shores farther south the birds are
seldom met with, and then only as odd stragglers. Where they stop
next and what their course is on departing is a mystery. Probably
they keep well out to the open sea, and along with the golden
plover wisely skip the United States in the fall flight south.

As indicated above, Hudsonian godwits evidently pass by New England far out at sea in fair weather, as they are strong, swift fliers, capable of a long, continuous flight. But during heavy easterly storms they are occasionally driven in and onto our coasts. The first one I shot was one of four birds taken on Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, September 5, 1892, after a severe northeast storm, which lasted for two days and brought in a heavy flight of shore birds. This was an adult. I have two other birds, both young birds, taken on Cape Cod on October 2 and 4. Mr. Forbush (1912) reports "a flock of about 50 birds seen at Ipswich on August 26, 1908, of which several were killed." He also says:

On August 13, 1903, a large flight occurred on the Long Island
coast and many were killed, but little was heard of them to the
southward. The only flight of godwits that is shown on the record
of Chatham Beach Hotel for seven years is in August, 1903. No birds
were taken on the 13th, when the great flight appeared on Long
Island, for at Chatham the weather apparently was fair, with a west
wind. One bird, perhaps a straggler from the Long Island flight,
was picked up on the 20th after a southeast wind had blown for two
days. On the 26th a northeast wind set in, and it blew from the
east or northeast for six days. On the 29th seven godwits were
killed. During the seven years for which the record was kept
godwits were taken only singly or in pairs, with the above
exception, and the record shows 42 killed all told. Twenty-four
were taken during east, north, or northeast winds; eight in
northwest winds; six in southwest winds; two in west winds; and
only one in a south wind.

Mr. S. Prescott Fay (1911) reports an unusually heavy flight at Cape Cod from early in August until October 22, 1910, during which 25 birds were shot on 17 different dates. He saw a flock of 10 on August 15, but says:

In most cases they were lone birds and, contrary to their habits,
were tame and decoyed readily. However, on September 5, during a
heavy easterly storm with a downpour of rain, a flock of 30 to 35
birds went over our stand at Chatham. Instead of alighting, as we
supposed they would do, for they appeared very much exhausted, they
continued their slow flight and disappeared, going due south in the
heaviest part of the storm. However, a man a short way below us
shot three of these birds as we watched them go over him high up,
and later we found some one else above us had shot one from the
same flock only a minute or two earlier. One of these men estimated
that the flock contained over 40 birds, so my figures may be too
low or else, after he fired, the birds may have separated so that
we might have seen only part of the original flock.

_Winter._--The winter home of the Hudsonian godwit is in extreme southern South America, from Argentina and Chile south to the Straits of Magellan and the Falkland Islands.

A. H. Holland (1892) says that, in Argentina, it "appears in flocks late in the winter after heavy rains from July to August. They were met with both in summer and winter plumage." Ernest Gibson (1920) reported it as formerly "very abundant, in numerous flocks, some of apparently over 1,000," in the Province of Buenos Aires. He says that--

On more than one of these occasions several birds have dropped to
my gun. The flock would then again and again sweep round and hover
over the individuals in the water, uttering loud cries of distress,
quite regardless of my presence in the open and the renewed
gunfire. Though the godwit is such an excellent table bird, I found
myself unable to continue the slaughter under these circumstances.
I might select my birds, but so closely were they packed together
that the shots went practically "into the brown," and caused
innumerable cripples.

Conditions have changed since then, for Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes:

Save for a record to be mentioned later, the Hudsonian godwit was
first recorded on November 13, 1920, when four, in winter plumage,
were found with small sandpipers on the tidal flats near the mouth
of the Rio Ajo, below Lavalle, Buenos Aires. Two more were seen
here on November 15. The species was not noted again until March 3,
1921, when two were seen along the Laguna del Morte in the
outskirts of Guamini, Buenos Aires. Four more were found on March
4, one in brown dress and the others still in winter plumage. On
March 5 eight were recorded, one only showing distinct signs of
breeding plumage. On the day following three passed swiftly
northward over the lake without pausing to alight, while on March 7
eight were seen together and a single bird later, and by a lucky
shot I secured one, a male. March 8, 12 that fed in a small bay
were so slow in rising that I secured 3. At dusk 12 more came to
roost on a mud bar in company with golden plover. Though reported
50 years ago as found in great bands and among the most abundant of
shore birds in this region, the small number that I have recorded
here are all that were observed in continued field work throughout
the winter range of the species. I was fortunate in seeing these,
as by chance I found a spot where they tarried in northward
migration from some point to the south.

The passing of this fine bird must be a cause for regret among sportsmen and nature lovers alike, to be attributed to the greed of gunners and to the fact that its large size and gregarious habit made it desirable to secure and when opportunity offered easy to kill in large numbers. There is little hope even under the most rigorous protection that the species can regain its former numbers. It would appear that the small number that remain winter mainly in Patagonia, as the species was encountered in any number only when in migration from that region.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains to southern South America. Now almost extinct.

_Breeding range._--The only eggs of this species that have been collected were taken at Mackenzie Bay and on the Anderson River, Mackenzie. It has been reported in summer from Alaska (Kenai, Nulato, Ugashik, mouth of the Yukon River, and Point Barrow); east to Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands (Audubon); but in no case, save the one above mentioned, is there satisfactory evidence of breeding. Preble found it common on the Barren Grounds south of Cape Eskimo, during the early part of August, and it also was noted by him in the country north of York Factory, in the middle of July.

_Winter range._--The Hudsonian godwit appears to winter only in southern South America. It has been taken or observed at this season in the Falkland Islands (Mare Harbor); Argentina (Chubut Valley, Lavalle, Azul, Buenos Aires, and La Plata); and Chile (Straits of Magellan, Ancud, and Valparaiso). MacFarlane (1887) reported them as abundant on the coast of Peru (San Juan) on November 9, 1883, but it seems unlikely that they were preparing to winter in that latitude.

_Spring migration._--This species always has been apparently rare on the Atlantic coast in spring and but few records are available. Among these are Maryland, West River, May 6, 1886 (only record for the State); Delaware, Rehoboth, May 8, 1906; and New York, Long Beach, May 23, 1925. Records of spring arrival for the interior are not much more numerous but among these are: Louisiana, Vinton, April 22; Missouri, April 19; Illinois, Albany, April 22; Ohio, New Bremen, April 22, and Youngstown, April 26; Michigan, Detroit, May 14; Ontario, Point Pelee, May 13; Iowa, Blue Lake, May 7; Minnesota, Heron Lake, April 19, and Grant County, April 25; Kansas, Lawrence, April 19; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 10; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 8; North Dakota, Harrisburg, May 6; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 11; Montana, Terry, May 10; Alberta, Beaverhill Lake, April 28; Mackenzie, Fort Anderson, June 7; and Alaska, Fort Kenai, May 5, Valdez, May 10, Lynn Canal, May 12, and St. Michael, May 22.

Late dates of spring departure are: Ontario, Toronto, June 13; Iowa, Sioux City, May 17; Wisconsin, Albion, June 3; Minnesota, Grant County, May 15, Hallock, May 17, Hallock, May 18, and Mankato, May 25; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 22, and Ceresco, June 12; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 24; North Dakota, Charlson, May 22; and Manitoba, Shoal Lake, May 29, and Lake Winnipegosis, June 5.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Keewatin, York Factory, July 19; Manitoba, Big Stick Lake, July 21; South Dakota, Artesian, July 10; Iowa, Sioux City, August 12; Ontario, Rupert House, July 30, and Toronto, August 20; Ohio, Pelee Island, August 24; Illinois, Mount Carmel, August 29, and Aledo, September 9; Louisiana, New Orleans, September 27; Rhode Island, Newport, July 29; New York, Shinnecock, August 8, Mastic, August 21, South Oyster Bay, August 25, and Quogue, August 31; New Jersey, Anglesea, August 26; North Carolina, Pea Island, September 13, 1911 (only record for the State); and West Indies, Barbados, October 5, and Dominica, October 8.

Late dates of fall departures are: Keewatin, Cape Eskimo, August 14, and Fort Churchill, August 24; Minnesota, St. Vincent, September 15; Wisconsin, Racine, November 1; Ontario, Ottawa, October 11, and Toronto, October 20; Quebec, Montreal, October 11; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, October 2, Ipswich, October 20, and Eastham, November 3; Connecticut, Little River marshes, October 11, and Lyme, October 30; Rhode Island, Newport, October 13; and New York, Onondaga Lake, October 13, Branchport, October 29, and Ithaca, November 5.

_Casual records._--A specimen of the Hudsonian godwit was taken near St. George, Bermuda, in the fall of 1875.

_Egg dates._--Arctic Canada: 8 records, June 9 to 30.

LIMOSA LIMOSA LIMOSA (Linnaeus)

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS

The only claim this species has to a place in the North American fauna rests upon its accidental occurrence in Greenland, where it is said to have occurred twice. There is, however, an element of doubt about the records. The first is due to Fabricius, who states in his _Fauna Greenlandica_ that he had seen a single specimen; the next occurrence is said to have taken place near Godthaab, or if Holböll's reference is to the same specimen, at the Kok Islands near Godthaab, and was recorded by Reinhardt, senior, in 1824. The skin was sent to the Museum at Copenhagen, but Dr. J. Reinhardt, junior, was unable to find it there, as he states in the _Ibis_ 1861, page 11. Winge pertinently suggests that there may have been some confusion with _Limosa haemastica_, of which species several specimens were sent to Copenhagen from Greenland, including one from Godthaab, sent by Holböll. The distance from Iceland to Greenland is not very great, but one would expect stragglers from that direction to arrive on the east side of Greenland instead of on the west side, where the great majority of accidental visitors are of Nearctic origin.

_Spring._--Fortunately we are now in possession of fairly full and complete descriptions of the courtship activities of this species on the arrival at its breeding grounds in Holland (Huxley and Montague 1926). Here it appears during the last days of March; in 1925 the first arrival took place on March 25, but up to March 31 a large proportion of the breeding stock had not yet put in an appearance. It is, however, interesting to note that many of the birds were not only on their breeding territories, but were obviously in pairs, although some unmated birds were also present and small flocks of newly arrived birds were also met with. Evidently the males do not migrate in advance of the females in order to "stake out their claims," as is the case with certain other species.

In the British Isles, where the black-tailed godwit has long ceased to breed, it is now only an irregular passage migrant chiefly from mid April to mid June, in small numbers along the south and southeast coasts. The Iceland breeding birds, however, pass through Ireland on their way north and reach their destination during the latter half of April or early in May in small flocks, but in these northern latitudes the breeding season is naturally later than in Central Europe and the eggs are not laid till late in May.

_Courtship._--This is dealt with by Huxley and Montague (1926) in considerable detail and is divided into seven sections: (1) The ceremonial flight and its variations, (2) the joint flight, (3) the tail display, (4) the scrape ceremony, (5) the pursuit, (6) fighting, and (7) coition. Taking these consecutively, the ceremonial flight is much the commonest and most striking action during the courtship period and is confined to the male alone. He rises at a steep angle with quickly beating wings, uttering repeatedly a loud trisyllabic call, _tur-ee-tur_. When a height of some 150 or 200 feet has been gained the real ceremonial flight starts. The most obvious point about it is the change of call--the quick trisyllable is suddenly replaced by a lower-toned disyllable, which may be represented by the letter _ghrutoe_ (or _grutto_, the Dutch name for godwit).

This change was inevitable; on no single occasion did we hear it in
any way departed from. The change in flight is equally notable. The
quick beat of the wings is suddenly slowed and is replaced by a
succession of slow, clipping strokes; at the same time the wings
are markedly bent downward just as those of the redshank in some of
his courtship flights. The tail is spread to the full and is
twisted round, first to one side and then to the other.
Simultaneously the whole body is tilted over in the same direction
as the tail and the bird flaps along with slow wing beats and body
heeled over for 20 or 30 yards. Then the tail is screwed over
toward the other side, and the body heels over correspondingly.
Thus the performing bird flies along rolling from side to side and
repeating the _grutto_ call continuously. We are, on the whole,
inclined to attribute it to the rudder action of the tail.

The flight generally takes place within a circle of 150 to 300 yards in diameter and about 200 feet up, but both direction and duration are variable and Huxley has seen one bird "rolling" for over a mile in a straight line, while another has come down after a dozen wing strokes. The descent is even more striking; the rolling flight and call stop simultaneously and the bird glides with rigid wings suddenly nose-diving downwards with almost closed wings till about 50 feet from the ground when the wings are opened and the godwit sideslips in all directions. Just before alighting the wings are opened and held vertically for a second or two afterwards. Another method, occasionally used, is to descend with the wings about two-thirds open, causing a loud roaring noise due to the wind passing through the separated primaries, and in this case the bird alights directly with spread wings and tail.

The "joint flight" is shared by both sexes and is normal in character, both birds (but especially the male) calling quickly as when rising for the ceremonial flight. The female is generally slightly in front of the male on these occasions. During the "tail display" the male struts round the hen with the tail fully expanded like a fan, but depressed to about an angle of 60° to 70° with the horizontal and tilts it from side to side so that the black and white surface is presented to the female. The "scrape ceremony" is chiefly confined to the male who runs to a depression and crouches down in it with slightly open wings, tail coverts puffed out and compressed tail pointing upwards, while he presses his breast against the ground as if smoothing off a scrape. Females were noticed to go through this action with appreciably spread tails and after some scratching with the feet.

Other godwits are always pursued with loud outcry, as well as harriers, lapwings, etc., but there is little real fighting between males, and what there is does not seem to be of a particularly vicious type. The opponents face each other and attempt to seize each other's bills, striking with their feet as they descend from the jump. Such sparring rarely lasts longer than two or, at the outside, three minutes. In coition the hen stands rigid with horizontal bill, the male standing about a foot behind her "with vibratory wings and spread tail, uttering a clear disyllabic note; then he rises and floats forward above the female with dangling legs and no apparent change in the rate of vibration of his wings. He poses for a moment upon her back, still calling with wings held stiffly upspread and vibrating tail. Immediately after pairing both birds usually continue feeding."

_Nesting._--The breeding grounds of this species vary considerably in character. On the great heaths of Brabant one may come across a pair nesting in short, dry heather; in the dune country on the Dutch coast they breed among the sea buckthorn and sallow bushes on the sandhills; in Texel most pairs prefer the rectangular patches of rich grass in the "polders" (reclaimed marshes), while in Jutland and Iceland a few pairs breed on the vast expanses of quaking marsh near the coast. Nowhere have we met with it more plentifully than in the Dutch polders where I have seen as many as 13 nests with eggs in a single day. All were much alike; a saucer-like hollow in the ground where the grass was thickest and richest, lined with a thick pad of dead grass.

_Eggs._--Here are laid the four pyriform eggs; five have been recorded once or twice, but the only case of six eggs which is known to me was probably due to two females sharing a nest. As a rule the eggs do not vary much, though sometimes a single egg may be found in which the ground color is pale bluish gray with blotches of deeper ashy gray and a few darker flecks. The great majority of eggs vary in color from greenish or olive green to olive brown and occasionally reddish brown in ground, with blotches or spots of darker brown or olive and a few ashy shell marks. The measurements of 100 eggs average 54.71 by 37.37 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =59.8= by 37.8, 55.3 by =40.7=, =48.5= by 37.7, and 55 by =34= millimeters.

_Young._--The only estimate of the incubation period known to me is that of Faber, who gives it as 24 days, but recent evidence on this point is lacking. Both sexes share in the work of incubation, according to von Wangelin, and this is confirmed by Huxley and Montague, who noticed that in the earlier stages the male spent, at least in one case, three hours on the nest to one by the female. This, however, applies only to the daytime. Hantzsch's statement, that apparently it is carried out by the hen alone, seems to be quite erroneous. The downy young as soon as dried are led out of the nest and are closely attended to by both parents. Only a single brood is reared in the season.

_Plumages._--The molts and plumages are fully described in "A Practical Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), to which the reader is referred.

_Food._--Naumann (1887) records insect larvae, worms, snails and slugs, fish and frog spawn, tadpoles; also insects (Coleoptera, Orthoptera, and Odonata). On migration, shells of small marine and fresh-water mollusca have been found in stomachs, also insects, small shore crustacea (Gammaridae) and the usual sand or gravel.

_Behavior._--The godwits are striking looking birds, readily recognizable in summer plumage by the cinnamon pink of the neck and breast and the bold contrast of black and white in the tail, taken in connection with the long legs and straight, slightly upturned bill. The latter character at once distinguishes them from the whimbrels and curlews and their large size marks them out from most of the other European Limicolae. The loud, musical, disyllabic call of the male is also very characteristic. In winter the warm coloring is lost, but the godwits are noisy birds and at this time of year the breeding note is replaced by a monosyllabic _chut_. Moreover, their contour when flying overhead is peculiar, for the long legs are carried out beyond the tail and have somewhat the effect of long middle tail feathers not unlike those of the Arctic skua or jaeger.

_Fall._--In the British Isles they begin to appear on our southeast coasts in August, though not in any numbers as a rule, and have generally left before the end of October. The Iceland birds assemble in flocks at the end of August and leave the island by the beginning of September, while in south Sweden, the Baltic republics, and Poland they desert their breeding grounds in the latter part of July and drift southwards to the North German coast. None stay in Holland after September, and gradually they work their way southward to the shores of the Mediterranean, where a certain number winter in favorable localities. The main streams of migration seem to be towards the Straits of Gibraltar on the west side and along the east side of the Balkan Peninsula, but along the west side of the peninsula they are much scarcer. Considerable numbers of west Asiatic birds migrate to the marshes of the Euphrates and winter there, while others pass into India and Burma.

_Winter._--During the winter months these godwits either haunt the seashore, displaying special preference for low-lying coasts where extensive areas of mud flats are exposed at low tide, or else are to be found where there are large marshes along the edges of lakes, and less frequently by the banks of rivers. On the open coasts and the Spanish marismas they are subject to a good deal of persecution from the larger falcons, especially the peregrine, which greatly appreciates them as an article of diet. Lord Lilford describes the great flocks of these godwits on the lower reaches of the Guadalquiver as spreading out into long lines or gathering into dense masses like starlings or dunlins, when trying to avoid the attentions of their long-winged enemies.

DISTRIBUTION

_Breeding range._--In Iceland it is very local, being confined to the low-lying country in the southwest (Arnes and Rangarvalla-Sysla), where it breeds in fair numbers; Faroes (only once definitely recorded); formerly in the British Isles from Yorkshire to Norfolk, but extinct as a breeding species since 1847, unless a possible Lincolnshire record for 1885 is accepted; Belgium, Holland, and its islands, West Jutland, North Germany, locally in South Sweden, Hungary, Poland, the Baltic Republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia); in Russia, according to Buturlin, it breeds in the governments of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Moscow, Riazan, on the Volga south to the mouth of the Kama, in the Ufa and Perm governments north to 60° N. In western Asia it nests in the Tobolsk government. The Irtysh Valley, Baraba Steppe, and locally in Turkestan, but the exact limits of this and the smaller eastern race (_L. l. melanuroides_ Gould) are not yet defined.

_Winter range._--The main winter quarters of this species are in the Mediterranean region, the coasts of North Africa, and the Nile Valley, the marshes of Iraq and the Indian Peninsula east of Burma. It has been recorded from the Azores, Maderia, and the Canaries; is common in suitable localities along the North African littoral from Morocco through Algeria and Tunisia to Egypt, and has been recorded from the Egyptian Sudan, Kordofan, and Abyssinia, and exceptionally as far South as Natal. In Asia it ranges to the Persian Gulf, the Indian Peninsular, but scarce in the south, Ceylon, Burma, etc., while the eastern race visits the islands of Malaysia and ranges to Australia.

_Spring migration._--The northward movement from Morocco takes place in February and March and it appears in Andalusia in February (late date April 6). In Corsica it has been noted as late as April 23 and on passage, Malta, March 24-25. In Tunisia it is most plentiful in February and March, and does not stay in Egypt after March (late date April 7). It also stays in the plains of northern India until March (late date Delhi, May 25). It passes through Portugal in February and March; Italy in March and April; Greece (February 10, March 7, etc.); Montenegro, large flock March 17-25; Bulgaria (March 10-31, flock of 200 on April 1).

_Fall migration._--The southward bound hosts arrive in Andalusia in August-September, but in Portugal, though a few appear in September, most pass in October. In north Italy the earliest arrival dates from the end of July, and in the Balkan Peninsular and the passage lasts from September to November (early date August 18, Bulgaria, late date November 13, Bulgaria), reaching Egypt in October. At the Euphrates marshes it arrives early in August and reaches India in October (early date, Nepal, September 7).

_Egg dates._--In Holland and Germany the first eggs may be found in the last 10 days of April and early May, but as they are largely taken for the market at that time, many sets in collections are second and even third layings. Seven records, April 18-30; 10 records, May 1-10; 12 records, May 11-20; 8 records, May 21-25. In Jutland breeding is rather later; six records May 10-15; and still later in Iceland, six records, May 23-June 2.

GLOTTIS NEBULARIA (Gunnerus)

GREENSHANK

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS

The claim of this species to a place in the North American list dates back to Audubon, who obtained three specimens on Sand Key, near Cape Sable, Florida. Since that occurrence no other specimens have been obtained.