2 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.
following year several in immature plumage made their nppearanoe on Hreyd-in, the specimens from which
the figures in the Plates were taken being shnt on the 31st of August, 1871
The la->t lllnok-tailed Godwits that came under my notice during the autumn migration were n couple
of inniuitnre hirds wen on the l.jlh of August, 1S81, on a rush-grown marsh within a few miles of the seacoast,
and seldom of late years have I met with a chance of closely inspecting such a mixed parly of Waders
and Wildfowl Owing to the heavy rain which had fallen incessantly for several days, much water was
out on many of the marshes, the bud in some instances being entirely submerged with the exception of
the banks thrown up along the dykes. Expecting that the floods, as was commonly the case nl this season,
would hnvc attracted a few fowl, I made my way cautiously in a punt to n spot near which a small party of
Teal had been previously observed to settle. After working the hows of the Craft carefully into a thick patch
of rushes, I crawled forward, and with the help of a powerful pair of glasses at once discovered that my
approach had been made without raising the slightest alarat in the assembled multitude. Though a couple of
Common Sandpipers rose within three feet of the bows of the boat, they alighted again immediately on a
heap of old limber, used to form a bridge when cattle were driven from one marsh to another. A few raids,
further a flock of Gnrganoy, tliat must have consisted of at least a couple of broods, were swimming round
alHUlt the sedges or trampling on the broken rushes where a footing could 1 e obtained, apparently engaged in
searching for food. The adjoining patch of Hags afforded shelter to some eight or ten Shovellers, squatting
larily among the roots of the plants till roused and put on the alert by the arrival of a " coll " of Common
Teal, which swept rapidly round for a couple of turns and then dropped out on the open water. On
examining the short grass by the dyke side more closely a St.ipe or two and several Dunlins were detected;
while on a patch of mud and weed that rase up slightly above the surface of the Hood two Black-tailed
Godwits, resting contentedly with necks eoofrnoted and their heads drawn hack, showed up most ooiispienously
above a swarm of smaller Waders that 1 was unable at the moment to identify, owing to the spots of drifting
rain collecting on the glasses. After watching this animated scene for over an hour, scarcely a bird, with the
exception of Snipes, Ring-Dotterel, and a few stray Peewits and Redshanks, having risen on wing or shifted
their positions, the assemblage was suddenly broken up with no little uproar by a shot fired at some distance
on the uplands. For a few moments the whole marsh appeared alive with wings as one after nnolher tho
various parties of Wildfowl and Waders rose up, some only to settle again, and others after wheeling in the
air for a time to make rapidly off for oilier quarters. The Black-tailed Godwits surrounded by n swnrm of
Wood-Sandpipers (identified at last) sprung up and, mute, aa usual • nt this season, flew steadily off in ¡1 line
for the cnnsl, the Sandpipers circling round the marshes and drawing tip a few Dunlins in pursuit for a
time, but eventually rising high in tho air and following a course of their own. In the midst of tho general
outcry the well-known note of the Whimhrc] was heard, as three or four couple that had escaped notice among
the thick cover on some of the rush-grown bonks sprung up and made off direct for the shore; n small party
of Reeves as well ns two separate pairs of Green Sandpipers were also unobserved till after clearing the reeds
and willows. After a few minutes' absence the Wood-Sand pipers, shortly followed by the Beeves, were again
circling over the spot from winch they rose, darting down with rapid flight, and alter hovering for n moment
on fluttering end extended wings disappearing into the long grass. The Common Teal and Shovellers had
long ago settled on some outlying slndcs, while the Gergancy, having paid not the slightest attention to the
uproar, were still slushing in the shollows. Invariably suspicious of danger, and jealous of the slightest
intrusion on their haunts, the Green Sandpipers refused to alight for n time, hut eventually dropped on a rotten
BAR-TAILED GOD WIT.
LIMOSA RUFA.
WITH the exception of the height of summer, when hut few stragglers remain in Great Britian, the Bartailed
Qodwit is to be found at all seasons in more or less abundance wherever mudflats or an open coastline
afford a sufficient stretch of uninterrupted feeding-ground. At various times I met with this species
in large numbers on the shores of several of the Scotch firths from Dornoch to Dunlmr, again In a lew
instances on the muds and rocky islands off the coast of Northumberland and on uumlierless spots on
tho flat shores of tho southern and eastern counties of England. 80 far as my own experience goes,
this Wader is far from common on the coast of the Western Highlands. On one occasion I noticed two
or three small parties flying over the Mineli in the beginning of May, and a flock numbering from
fifteen to twenty on tho shores of Loch Broom.
If nil the yarns of the old llreydon fowlers arc to be credited, these birds must in days gone by
bnvo visited tho mudflats in that district in countless thousands. An immense body stretching, when
alighted, in a long line 011 the south shores over the space between three of the stakes marking tho courso
of tho novignble channel, was a favourite theme of conversation among these worthies. At the present day
their numbers hnvc sadly fallen off. I have often spent tho whole of May, from dayfighl almost till
dark, 011 the water without seeing mom than two or three hundred pass during the month. Along the
shingle-honks of Kent and Sussex, as well as on the Norfolk Hats, the arrival of tho Godwit was
formerly eagerly looked forward to by idl the shore-gunners of the locality. The sands stretching from
Ryo to Lydd, with the well-known Nook and the creeks in Romncy Marsh, were the spots on which
they usually settled in the largest numbers. Purtlier west the tiats of Shoreham, Goring Banks, Pi.gham
llarboiir», and the extensivo muds about Bosham, Emsworth, and Chichester were visited in favourable
seasons both in spring and autumn.
Though numbers of Godwils remain during winter in Great Britian anil are to IK- met with occasionally
in all suitable situations from north to south, tho spring flights of birds that have passed the cold weather
in a warmer climate commence to arrive on the south coast shortly after the beginning of May. A few
days later the flats of the eastern counties ore thickly tennnted, should the wind continuo castorly. A
change of weather and a gale from the west or south-west, however, puts a sudden stop for a time to
the migration. With cold cutting bréenos from tho east or north-east, I have of late years rejicatedly seen
large (locks of Godwils passing along the Sussex coast near Shoreham, from half to a quarter of a mile at
sen. The birds now apjivar to prefer drawing in liencath the shelter of the shore and continuing their
journey further east to settling for a time on the muds they formerly frequented. Tho flight-time on
Breydoti usually com menees about tho Sth or Oth of May, the 12th to the loth being considered the best
days. As on the south coast, light easterly breezes with a slight inclination from either north or south
• Hint diainiii f.ir roanj JRARI; ami I ho mnilrl.il> known • lh.' >V>k at IIJP kiif -baiisl the- nmv ialv.