428 HUDSONIAN GODWIT.
inner webs pale grey ; tips of the primary coverts and bases of the quills,
white, as is a broad band over the rump. Tail feathers and upper tailcoverts
brownish-black, their bases white, and their tips narrowly edged
with brownish-white. The lower parts are bright yellowish-red, the sides
mottled with dark brown; the abdomen and lower tail-coverts paler and
variegated with dusky; the lower wing-coverts blackish-brown, edged
with whitish.
Length to end of tail 15f inches, to end of wings 16f, to end of claws
19f; wing from flexure 8 | ; tail 3£ ; extent of wings 28 ; bill along the
back 3 T
7
2 ; along the edge of lower mandible §A ; bare part of tibia 1£;
tarsus 2,i J middle toe 1T
4
2 , its claw H. Weight 9 oz.
Young Female in winter. Plate CCLVIII. Fig. 2.
The bill, iris and feet, as in the adult male. Upper part of the head
dusky, with darker lines ; sides of the head, and the neck, greyish-yellow
; a whitish band over the eye. The lower parts are pale brownishgrey,
the upper brownish-grey; the fore part of the back and scapulars
brownish-black, the feathers edged with light brownish-red ; the wingcoverts
brownish-grey; the quills as in the adult, as is the tail, anterior
to which is also a broad white band.
In September 1835, I shot, near Edinburgh, a young individual of
Limosa nifa, which I had previously observed for some time. It thrust
its bill into the wet sand in the same manner as the Woodcocks; and I
was much surprised, on taking it up, to see that its bill was perfectly
straight in its whole length. When I opened it, however, in order to
place a little cotton in its throat, a sudden spring-like movement of the
mandibles made them curve upwards. Never having kept birds of this
genus alive, I am unable to say whether the bill be naturally straight or
not.
THE HORNED GREBE.
PODICEPS CORNUTUS, LlNN.
PLATE CCLIX. MALE AND YOUNG.
T H E period at which this little Grebe makes its first appearance, after
the breeding season, on the waters of the Western States, such as the
Ohio, the Mississippi, and their numerous tributaries, is the beginning of
October, when I have seen them arriving and passing onward on wing at
a considerable height in the air, following the course of the streams. The
generally received idea that birds of this genus perform their migrations
on the water, is extremely absurd. I have already offered some remarks
on this subject, but as too much cannot he said, when an erroneous notion
extensively adopted has to be disproved, I here repeat that I have
seen flocks of Grebes on wing and migrating high in the air, apparently
with as much ease, as many longer-winged birds, and with considerable
velocity.
Towards evening, on the 14th of October 1820, I was floating in a
small boat on the Ohio. The weather was perfectly calm, and I was
startled by a whistling sound over head, resembling that of a Hawk stooping
on its prey, when, on looking up, I saw a flock of Grebes, about thirty
in number, gliding towards the water as if about to alight within a quarter
of a mile from me. In a few minutes they had come within a few yards
of the surface of the water, when suddenly checking their speed, they
pursued their course until out of sight; but in a short time I saw them
returning towards me, and in less than a minute they all passed at a distance
of forty or fifty yards, took a round and alighted pell-mell. The
next moment, they were all engaged in washing and trimming themselves,
in the manner of Ducks, Cormorants, and other aquatic birds. As I
rowed towards them, they scarcely took notice of me, so that they were
easily approached; and finding a number of them close together, I fired
and killed four. The rest paddled off for some yards, rose on wing, and
flew down the stream in a pretty close body, looking as if not disposed to
settle again for some time. On picking up the dead birds, I found them
to be of the present species, three being young, the other an adult with