X IM Q S A R O T A , Tarmo.
Bar-tailed God wit. ^
Scolopax Lapponica, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 62.
Limosa rufa, Teram. Man. d’Orn., 1815, p. 432.
Fedoa rufa, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 77. .
Scolopax leucophcea, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 719.
Limicula Lapponica, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iii. p. 250.
Totanus leucopkaus, fteehst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iv. p. 237.
— gregarim, Rechst. ibid. p. 258.
Limosa ferruginea, Pall. Zoogr. Ross.-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 180.
— Meyeri, Leisl. Nacht. zu Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. ii. p. 172.
— Noveboraeentii, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds, in Brit. Mus., p. 32.
Fedoa Meyeri, Steph. Cont.' of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 75.
— pectoralis, Steph- ibid. p. 79.
Actitis limoaa, 111. Prod Mamm. et Av., p. 262.
Limosa lapponica, G. I! Oray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 570, Limosa, sp. 3.
T h e above long lis t o f synonyms will show how much a tte n tio n th is well-known species has received from
o rn ith o lo g is ts ; I tru s t, however, th a t it will n o t b e en cumbered w ith an additional name, an d th a t th e
a p p ro p ria te one o f rufa will in fu tu re be re ta in ed as th e specific appe lla tion o f th e b i r d ; Lapponica is certainly
in ap p ro p ria te , wha tever m a y b e its claims to p r io r ity ; fo r th e b ird is n o t confined to L ap la n d , b u t is perhaps
mo re gen e rally d isp e rse d th an any o th e r species o f th e genus.
I f we take a glance a t the northern regions o f the Old World, as displayed on a map o r an artificial globe,
we see a few degrees to the eastward o f the North Cape, between 70° and 75° N. lat., the island o f Nova
Zembla, standing out boldly in the Icy S e a ; looking further east, we find the mainland o f Siberia extending
to a still higher latitude. These, and other parts o f Siberia, with the interminable .marshes and moorlands
which skirt the rivers o f that great country running into the Icy Ocean, From the sea of Kara, in the west,
to Behring’s Straits, in tl»e east, northern Lspknd and Fmawfcrk are, probably, the great nurseries of the
Bar-tailed Godwit; and it is to those covntries that the individuals which winter in Europe, China, and
Japan most likely retire for the purpose o f reproduction; I speak of Europe and China con joint I v, because
I think that the migratory movements o f the birds may take place simultaneously in both those parts o f the
globe, and I may almost venture to assert that the individuals which return to Europe in the autumn have
been breeding in Lapland, Finmark, and Nova Zembla. Some of these western Godwits winter with us
in the British Islands, others on the estuaries o f the rivers and sea-shores o f the Continent; others, again,
cross the Mediterranean, and distribute themselves in all favourable situations throughout Africa. The same
iniliience, I have no doubt, affects the Chinese and Japanese examples which have bred in eastern Siberia; for
they do not all stop in that country, but, like the western birds, impulsively seek a warmer climate, some
individuals, I believe, extending their range, through the Philippine and all the intervening islands, to the
continent of Australia, and even to Tasmania, on the shores o f which island, in all suitable localities, I found
numerous examples in their grey attire, but none in the red or breeding-dress. In asserting that it visits
Australia I may be accused of discrepancy, since in my folio work on the birds of that country, and in my
Handbook on the same subject., 1 treated the southern and northern Bar-tailed Godwits as distinct species;
but I now believe them to be identical, and that the greater and less amount o f spotting on the rump is a
character not to be wholly depended upon. I f this latter view be correct, how widely does this bird ran g e !
and how distant does it wander from its breeding-place! Young birds generally wander further from their
birth-place than ad u lts; and hence it probably is that we never see an Australian example in the red
dress, which may not be acqiored until the bird is on its return to the place in which it was bred.
Over Britain the dispersion of the Bar-tailed Godwit is very g en e ra l; and wherever a tidal estuary or a
low flat beach occurs, there it is to be found during the months o f autumn. In the spring great
accessions to those which have wintered with, us take place, particularly on our eastern coasts, the
additions mainly consisting o f birds en rmttc from more southern countries. They are now in their finest
dress, having exchanged the grey plumage o f winter for the rich chestnut livery o f the approaching nuptial
season; when thus attired in all the freshness o f the spring moult,.the bird, for a Sandpiper, is truly
beautiful. May is the month in which they pass over Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, resting there for