LIMOSA MELANURA.
Black-tailed Goti wit.
Scolopax limosa, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 61.
Totanus limosa et ru/us, Bechst. Natdrg. Deutschl., tom. iv. pp. 344, 263.
Limosa melanura, Leisl. Nacht. zu Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. h. pp. 160, 167.
Limicula melanura, VieilL Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iii. p. 250.
Scolopax eegocephala, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 246.
------------belgice, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., p. 663.
Totanus agocephalus, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iv. p. 234.
Fedoa melanura, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 73.
Limosa jadreca, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 32.
agocephala, Leach, ibid., p. 34.
islmdica, Brehm, Yog. Deutschl., p. 626.
I n England we have two Godwits with very distinctive characters, which a t a glance may be distinguished
a t any age one from the o th e r; and it would be well if the trivial names o f Black-tailed and Bar-tailed and
the specific ones o f melanura and rufa should be always retained for these well-known birds. It will, however,
be seen by the above list o f synonyms that Gmelin called the present species helgica, Leach jadreca, Linnwus
and Bechstein agocephala; by most modern ornithologists, however, the term melanura is employed ; and I
accordingly adopt it.
Where a bird breeds, o r has for centuries bred, that country m ust be regarded as the home of the species j
Britain therefore is one o f the homes of the Black-tailed Godwit. The Rev. Mr. Lubbock, when speaking
o f the marsh-birds in his * Fauna of Norfolk,’ says :— “ Five species in particular used to swarm in our
marshes—the Godwit, the Ruff, the Lapwing, the Redshank, and the Black Tern. These last bred in
countless multitudes in a large alder-carr at Upton, near Acle, and dispersed themselves over the country
for miles, while the Kedshank iu the breeding -season flew dashing around the head of any intruders on his
territories, and endeavoured, like a Lapwing, ro mislead straugers from the n e s t; higher in the air and flying
in bolder circles, uttering a louder note svas the Black-tailed Godwit, called provincially ‘ the S h riek e r'
from its piercing cries. The bird is now almost extiuct in this part of Norfolk .- it used to breed at Buck-
enham, Thyrne, Horsey, and one or two other places.” 'Lubbock’s book was published in 18L>: ¡he interval
that has since elapsed lias not, as might have been expected, enabled other writers to add to the list o f the
breediug-places o f the birds spoken o f ; and if either of them have bred in the localities mentioned it is
certainly not the Black-tailed Godwit, the draining o f the meres and the increase o f the gunners preventing
it from continuing to do so.
Whether associations be banded dowu among birds as among human beings, we know n o t; but, although
the Godwit is no longer permitted to breed in the marshy districts o f our eastern coast, it as regularly pays
them a visit as the season runs round, and the bird is accordingly frequently seen and killed during the
vernal and autumnal periods of the year in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire. The low shores of all the
estuaries of England, Scotland, and Ireland having muddy flats are also visited by it. I t must still breed in
Holland; for its egg« form a considerable article of trade between that country and Leadenhall Market,
where they may frequently be seen in the month o f May exposed for sale, like those o f the Lapwing, for
the purposes of the tab le : their numbers, however, are becoming less and less every y e a r; and probably the
time is not far distant when the marshes of Holland and Friesland, like those o f England, may not be tenanted
by the Black-tailed Godwit.
In Ireland it appears never to breed ; for although Thompson states that it now and then occurs there iu
great numbers, he makes no allusion to its nesting. That it speedily becomes habituated to the restraints
o f captivity is certain. ‘‘During my visits to the Gardens o f the Zoological Society, in the Regent’s Park,
London, in May and Ju n e 1839,” says Thompson, “ the sight o f eleven o f these birds in one o f the iu-
closures always gratified me. The first day I saw them was very warm. They were all standing in the
same position, on one leg, with the other tacked up so as to be wholly invisible, the bill buried in the
feathers, and the eyes closed. The nest day that I went was equally fine, and the hour o f my visit the same ;
but they were all actively moving about, and colling as if on the sea-shore. They appeared quite happy. It
was interesting to observe their natural habit o f driving the point o f the bill into their soft emn feeding-
ground, here exemplified by several o f them a t the same moment probing the layer o f straw with which the
floor of their residence was covered. On my third visit the day was very cold in the shade, and the wind
easterly. They all had their bills wholly buried in their dorsal plumage, and most of them had their eves