c losed; but they nevertheless kept continually calling, without in the least degree changing their attitudes or
moving the bill from its state of repose. Occasionally two or three would call at the same moment, the rule
seeming to be that a continuous note was essential. It was amusing to see the vibration of the body of the
bird when, supported on one leg, the call was uttered with the bill ‘ engulfed ’ in the plumage o f the back.
A Ruff in the same aviary seemed also quite contented, and displayed the well-known pugnacity o f the species
by striking with its bill any of the Godwits that came within reach. On one of the warm days he took possession
for a time of a large shallow pan of water, and would not suffer a Godwit to partake of, or to cool its
feet in, the liquid.”
The Black-tailed Godwit is distributed over the whole of Europe, wherever situations suitable to its habits
occur. In England it is most frequently seen in spring and autumn, during its passage to, and return from,
its breeding-grounds in high northern latitudes. Mr. Rodd states that it has been killed a t the Land’s-
end, but that it is uncommon in Cornwall; Macgillivray says it is never very abundant in Scotland; and
Thompson that it frequents the coast o f Ireland in autumn and winter in very limited numbers. Fabricius
mentions that he had only seen a single specimen in Greenland; and Reinhardt that, after his time, but one
more example had been said to have been obtained there. Mr. Alfred Newton states that, according to Faber,
it arrives iu Iceland during the last week in April, and adds :— “ I do not know that any naturalist has found its
eggs in Iceland, but I have little doubt it breeds there. It seems to be rare (if it occurs at all) in the north.
I obtained a fine pair in the flesh a t Reykjavik, towards the end of June.” Wheelright says it is a summer
visitant to L apland; Loche states that it is a bird o f passage in Algeria; Swinhoe informs us that it is “ said
to be found on lakes and inland marshes in China, whence it is brought to the Tientsin and Shanghai markets
in winter.” It is probably from Mantchuria that these birds come. Temminck and Schlegel note it from
Japan. According to Mr. Jerdon it is “ found throughout India during the cold weather, generally in large
flocks at the edge of water.”
Mr. Hewitson states that the “ eggs, which are four in number, differ considerably in size and colouring,
some being of a uniform light olive-brown, and almost spotless, while others have the surface sprinkled with
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,
and that tbe birds when disturbed are clamorous, flying round the intruder, and vociferating the cry ofgrutto,
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 o f 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 h e ad ; back and scapularies rufous, crossed by broad irregular bands of black, the last o f which,
assumed on some of the feathers, the shape of a large blotch; basal portion of the feathers brownish
grey ; tips o f the scapularies white; wing-coverts dark-greyish brown, with paler margins, approaching to
white; greater coverts and wings dark brown, with white shafts, th e tips o f the coverts and the base of the
primaries pure white, forming a conspicuous mark when the wing was sp read ; most of the lengthened tertiaries
grey, a few of them dark brown, deeply toothed with tawmy, and tipped with g rey ; lower part of the back
grey, each feather narrowly fringed with white; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white; tail-feathers white at
the base, black for the remainder o f their length, except a t the tip, where they were fringed with greyish white,
the amount o f 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 white, with a few bars
of dark brown on the flanks and under tail-coverts ; bill yellow at the base, dark brown at the t ip ; legs dark
olive-green.
In the winter the head and neck are greyish olive-brown, and tbe back dark olive-brown. As the spring
advances, a change of feathers takes place, the brownish olive colouring o f the back giving place to cross
markings o f red and black, and by May the transformation is complete.
The weight o f the female is 13 oz., of the male 10 oz.
The Plate represents a male and a female o f the size o f life— the male in change from its olive-brown dress
to the rufous one of summer, and the female in her usual brown dress.