Voice.—The marbled godwit has a great variety of striking and characteristic notes. Its ordinary call note, when only slightly disturbed, sounds like terwhit, terwhit, terwhit, or pert-wurrit, pert-wurrit, or godwit, godwit, godwit, from which its name is probably derived; these notes are all strongly accented on the last syllable, and are uttered almost constantly while the birds are flying about over their breeding grounds. When considerably alarmed these notes are intensified, more rapidly given, and with even more emphasis, kerweek, kerwee-eek, or kerreck, kreck, kreck, kerreck; sometimes they are prolonged into a loud, long-drawn-out scream quack, qua-a-ack, or quoick, quoi-i-ick, somewhat between the loudest quacking of an excited duck and the scream of a red-shouldered hawk. There is also a more musical, whistling note, less often heard, sounding like the syllables kor-koit or ker-kor-koit, kor-koit, the accent being on the kor in each case; this note seems to indicate a more satisfied frame of mind and is much more subdued in tone. All of these notes are subject to great individual variation, and, as the godwits are very noisy birds, we were given ample opportunities to study them, but to write them down in a satisfactory manner is not so easy.
P. A. Tayerner (1926) writes: "Their loud exasperating eradica-radica-radica-radica varied with Your-crazy-crazy-crazy and confirmed by Korect-korect sets all the prairie on the alert."
John T. Nichols says in his notes:
A bird flying toward decoys gave a single unwhistled note, hank, likely the flight note of the species in migration. Alighted, it had a short, unloud note, a goose-like honk, especially when other shore birds flew past (Long Island, August). The few godwits of any species that I have seen in migration have mostly been silent.
Field marks.—The marbled godwit is so large and so well marked as a big brown bird that it is likely to be confused with only one other bird, the long-billed curlew. It nearly equals the curlew in size, and the rich cinnamon color in the wings is conspicuous in both species, but the long, curved bill of the curlew serves to distinguish it, even at a considerable distance, and the notes of the two birds are quite different. At short range the shape of the head, the long, slightly upturned bill, pinkish buff on its basal third, and the bluish-gray legs are distinctive marks.
Fall.—As soon as the breeding season is over, or even before all the broods are fledged, the marbled godwits begin to gather into flocks and become much more wary. Even as early as June 27, 1906, we saw as many as 36 birds in one flock, but as we did not see any young birds among them we inferred that these must have been birds whose eggs or young had been destroyed. As I have always had to leave for the East before the southward migration began I am unable to give any information on this subject from personal observation, but Dr. Louis B. Bishop has kindly placed at my disposal his notes relating to this movement.
At Stump Lake, North Dakota, in 1902, he noted on July 28 a flock of about 100 marbled godwits, chiefly adults, all that were taken being old birds; and on July 30 he saw a flock of about 50, which he assumed to be composed chiefly of young birds, all that were taken being in juvenile plumage. At the same locality in 1905 he saw on July 26 a flock of about 40, both adults and young, all that were collected being young birds; on August 2, all of these birds had disappeared. This exact locality, a sandy point at the western end of the lake, was visited only on the above dates. These birds were undoubtedly migrants, as they were not known to have bred in that vicinity.
After I had left Saskatchewan, Doctor Bishop visited the breeding grounds of the marbled godwits, and on July 3, 1906, found adult birds tolerably common, but they had all departed two days later. At Big Stick Lake, from July 18 to 21, 1906, he saw large flocks of adult godwits containing hundreds of birds, but on July 22 very few were left. He also writes that adults reach the North Carolina coast in the middle of July, as he has in his collection adults taken on July 11 and 27, 1904, and that young birds appear about a month later, as he has specimens taken August 10 and 19, 1904.
Evidently the godwits move off their breeding grounds as soon as the young are able to fly, those birds which have been unsuccessful in rearing their young being the first to leave, and forming the vanguard of the early migration in July. Probably most of the adults start on their southward migration before the end of July, and well in advance of the young, the later flight being composed almost entirely of young birds, and moving more deliberately.
The fall migration is or was very well marked and rather unique; many individuals formerly migrated almost due east from their breeding grounds in the interior to the Atlantic coast of New England. Others still continue to migrate westward to the Pacific coast and southward to the Gulf coast. All of the earlier writers indicate that this was an abundant migrant on the Atlantic coast from New England southward about the middle of the last century. The immense flocks which passed along our shores have been gradually disappearing until now only a few straggling birds are ever seen. Probably what comparatively few birds are left migrate to the Atlantic coast farther south or to the Gulf or Pacific coasts. Probably excessive shooting has driven them from their former haunts. They have always been popular with sportsmen and have been slaughtered unmercifully. They share with some other species the fatal habit, prompted by sympathy or curiosity, of circling back again and again over their fallen companions after a flock has been shot into, so that it is an easy matter for the gunners to kill them in large numbers.
Although it breeds and lives on the grassy meadows of the interior, the marbled godwit seems to prefer the seacoast on its migrations, frequenting more rarely the shores of large lakes. It is common as a migrant on the Pacific coast even as late as December, but it seems to be absent from California in January and February. Bradford Torrey (1913) says:
I have seen godwits and willets together lining the grassy edge of the flats for a long distance, and so densely massed that I mistook them at first for a border of some kind of herbage. Thousands there must have been; and when they rose at my approach, they made something like a cloud; gray birds and brown birds so contrasted in color as to be discriminated beyond risk of error, even when too far away for the staring white wing patches of the willets to be longer discernible.
As a flock there was no getting near them; I proved the fact to my dissatisfaction more than once; but sitting quietly on the same bay shore I have repeatedly known a single godwit or willet to feed carelessly past me within the distance of a rod or two.
Winter.—It is a comparatively short journey for this godwit to its winter home in the Gulf States and Central America. I have seen and collected a few godwits in Florida, but it is now impossible to see them in anything like the numbers mentioned by Audubon (1840) and Maynard (1896). The former says:
This fine bird is found during winter on all the large muddy flats of the coast of Florida that are intermixed with beds of racoon oysters. As the tide rises it approaches the shores, and betakes itself to the wet savannahs. At this season it is generally seen in flocks of five or six, searching for food in company with the telltale, the yellow shanks, the long-billed curlew, and the white ibis.
The latter writes:
The marbled godwits are very common in the South in winter, but they are particularly abundant in Florida. Back of Amelia Island, just south of St. Marys River, thus lying just on the extreme northern confines of the State, are extensive flats on which are pools that become partly dry during winter. These were the familiar resorts of the godwits, and flocks of hundreds would gather around them. They were quite wild while here, rising with deafening clamor when approached, but they had become so attached to the locality that they would merely circle about and alight on the borders of some neighboring pool. From this point, southward along the eastern coast as far as Merritts Island they were very numerous but were not common at Miami, and I did not see them on the Keys. On the west coast, however, they occurred in large numbers, especially on the muddy flats about Cedar Keys. On Indian River I found the godwits very unsuspicious, in so much so that I have frequently killed them with dust shot.
Range.—North and Central America. The range of the marbled godwit is now greatly restricted, the breeding areas being principally in North Dakota and central Saskatchewan and it is now extremely rare in winter anywhere on the Atlantic coast.
Breeding range.—North to Alberta (probably Edmonton); Saskatchewan (Osler and Crescent Lake); Manitoba (Winnipeg); and Wisconsin (Iron County). East to Wisconsin (Iron County, Stoughton, and Lake Koshkonong); and Iowa (Newton). South to Iowa (Newton and probably Sioux City); South Dakota (Miner County and probably Huron); and Montana (Billings). West to Montana (Billings and Strater); and Alberta (Medicine Hat and probably Edmonton). It also has been detected in summer at Okanagan, British Columbia, Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, Moose Lake, Manitoba, and York Factory, Manitoba.
Winter range.—North to Lower California (Magdalena Bay and La Paz); Sinaloa (Mazatlan); Oaxaca (Tehuantepec); western Yucatan; probably Texas (Corpus Christi); probably Louisiana; and Georgia (Savannah). East to Georgia (Savannah and Darien); Florida (Amelia Island, Tarpon Springs, Fort Myers, and Miami); eastern Yucatan (Cozumel Island); and British Honduras (Belize). South to British Honduras (Belize); and Guatemala (Chiapam). West to Guatemala (Chiapam); probably Colima (Manzanillo); and Lower California (Magdalena Bay). Marbled godwits formerly wintered north to southeastern South Carolina (Frogmore) and they are casual at this season in southern California (San Diego, Lake Elsinore, La Jolla, and Humboldt Bay).
Spring migration.—Early dates of arrival are: Missouri, St. Louis, April 13, Boonville, April 16, and Corning, April 18; Illinois, Warsaw, April 2, Calumet, April 4, and Rockford, April 8; Ohio, Lakeside, April 20, and Columbus, April 21; Michigan, Ann Arbor, May 5; Iowa, Emmetsburg, April 21, and Gilbert Station, April 23; Minnesota, Heron Lake, April 8, Wilder, April 19, and Goodhue, April 20; Nebraska, Lincoln, April 18; North Dakota, Bismarck, April 30, Jamestown, May 1, and Harrisburg, May 5; Manitoba, Oak Lake, April 25, Reaburn, May 2, Margaret, May 7, and Winnipeg, May 11; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, April 16, McLean, April 16, South Qu'Appelle, April 20, and Wiseton, April 24; Colorado, Loveland, April 20, Larimer County, April 26; Wyoming, Cheyenne, May 1, and Douglas, May 15; Montana, Milk River, May 18; Alberta, Flagstaff, May 10, and Alliance, May 11; California, Santa Barbara, April 27, San Buenaventura, April 28; and Washington, Grays Harbor, April 9.
Late dates of spring departure are: Florida, Amelia Island, May 15; Georgia, Wolf Island, April 30; South Carolina, Hilton Head, April 24; Missouri, Warrensburg, May 4, and Boonville, May 31; Illinois, Chicago, May 26; Nebraska, Valentine, May 16; Colorado, Durango, May 28, and Barr, May 30; Lower California, San Martin Island, April 10, and Turtle Bay, April 14; and California, Sandyland, June 9, Santa Barbara, June 15, and Los Angeles, June 16.
Fall migration.—Early dates of arrival in the fall are: California, Los Angeles, July 7; Lower California, San Quentin, August 6, and Cape San Lucas, September 9; Wyoming, Douglas, July 31; Colorado, Barr, June 24; Illinois, Chicago, July 22; Ohio, Pelee Island, July 24; Maine, near Portland, August 8; New Hampshire, Seabrook, August 17, and Rye Beach, August 27; Massachusetts, Eastham, August 10; Connecticut, West Haven, August 26; New York, Lawrence, July 21; North Carolina, Pea and Brodie Islands, July 11; South Carolina, Ladys Island, August 21, and Bay Point, August 24; and Florida, St. Marks, September 11.
Late dates of fall departure are: California, Nigger Slough, November 15, Humboldt Bay, December 7, and San Diego, December 12; Colorado, Denver, September 5, Boulder, September 18, and San Luis Lake, October 1; Saskatchewan, Ravine Bank, August 25, and Defoe-Guernsey Camp, August 26; Manitoba, Margaret, September 22; North Dakota, Charlson, September 16, and Westhope, September 24; Nebraska, Lincoln, October 16; Michigan, Newberry, September 23; Ohio, Sandusky Bay, October 12; Illinois, northeastern part, October 20; Quebec, Montreal, September 3; Maine, Popham Beach, September 13; Massachusetts, Newburyport, September 7; New York, Shinnecock Bay, September 15; New Jersey, Cape May, September 14; North Carolina, Beaufort, November 17; and South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, November 3.
Casual records.—The marbled godwit has on several occasions been recorded outside of its normal range principally to the south and east of its winter quarters. Among these are: Ecuador (Santa Rosa, 1877); Lesser Antilles (Grenada, August 29, 1881, and also from the islands of Carriacou and Trinidad); Porto Rico (recorded from Boqueron by Gundlach); and Cuba (recorded from Cardenas in September by Gundlach). It also has been noted from Alabama (near Greensboro, in 1880, and Dauphin Island, August 21, 1911); Ontario (Toronto, May 30, 1895, and June 7, 1890); Arizona (San Pedro River, January 27, 1886); and Alaska (Ugashik, July 16 and 18, 1881, Nelson Island, July 5, 1910, and Point Barrow, August 26, 1897).
Egg dates.—Saskatchewan: 38 records, May 15 to June 27; 19 records, May 30 to June 9. Minnesota and Dakotas: 16 records, May 10 to June 14; 8 records, May 25 to June 8.
The bar-tailed godwit of Europe is represented in eastern Siberia and western Alaska by this larger race, with a more spotted rump. From the above breeding grounds it migrates to a winter range in Australia, New Zealand, and many oceanic islands. South of Alaska it is a mere straggler in North America.
Spring.—On its spring migration the Pacific godwit passes through the Aleutian Islands and the Pribilof Islands on its way to its breeding grounds in northwestern Alaska. I saw two birds on Atka Island on June 13, 1911, probably belated migrants; it has been said to breed near Unalaska, but this seems hardly likely. William Palmer (1899) reported it as a migrant in the Pribilof Islands from early in May until June 13. Probably the main northward flight passes through the Kurile and Commander Islands to northeastern Siberia. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says of its arrival in Alaska:
On May 26, 1877, while I was at Unalaska, a native brought in a half dozen of these birds, and on June 3 I obtained three others from the sandy beach of a small inner bay. They were very unsuspicious and easily killed. Although these birds appeared to be migrating, yet the following years I found them arriving at Saint Michael in flocks of from 25 to 200 from the 13th to 20th of May. These flocks were shy and kept in continual motion, wheeling and circling in rapid flight over the lowland, now alighting for a moment, then skimming away again in a close body. Their movements and habits at this season are similar to those of other godwits. By the last of May the flocks are broken up, and the birds are distributed in small parties over their breeding ground.
Herbert W. Brandt says in his notes:
For a large shore bird the dinful Pacific godwit is of common occurrence on the vast mossy upland tundra about Hooper Bay and is even more numerous in similar areas in the Igiak Bay region, including the lower slopes of the mountain sides. The vociferous guardian parents, however, make themselves so conspicuous by their clamorous agitation that they seem more plentiful than they are in reality. The first bird to arrive from afar, a beautiful ruddy specimen, was captured May 15, and by May 20 occasional bands of 20 or more birds were feeding along the overflow river margins. These flocks remained for some days and were apparently transients, for they passed elsewhere. One flock of 21 highly colored birds stayed with us until June. In the meanwhile the happy mated pairs had already taken charge of their respective upland domains, for on May 25 a nest with two eggs was found, which on May 28 held four eggs.
Courtship.—Doctor Nelson (1887) gives a brief account of this, as follows:
Their courtship begins by the 18th or 20th of May and is carried on in such a loud-voiced manner that every creature in the neighborhood knows all about it. The males continually utter a loud ringing ku-wew, ku-wew, ku-wew, which is repeated with great emphasis upon the last syllable, and the note may be heard for several hundred yards.
Nesting.—We are indebted to Mr. Brandt for practically all we know about the nesting habits of this rare species. I quote from his notes, as follows:
The Pacific godwit chooses an elevated dry site for its domicile, preferring the ridges on the rolling tundra and nests even occur on the lower mountain slopes. The nest is well concealed, for it is usually placed between clumps of bunch grass and is thus well screened from view by the standing vegetation. The structure is usually a simple depression in the moss and lichens and lined haphazardly with fragments of the surrounding reindeer moss, but occasionally a real nest is carefully fashioned with considerable grass woven in a circular manner and is thus rather substantially constructed. In one instance the bird added to the nesting material while the eggs were being laid. The range of measurements of 12 nests is: Inside diameter, 6 to 7 inches; inside depth, 3 to 4 inches; and total depth, 3 to 5 inches. I observed the female Pacific godwit alone to incubate, but the male was always near by. She is perhaps the closest brooder of any incubating shore bird we encountered, so much so that she often literally had to be almost stepped on before she arose. The alert male lookout meets the intruder at a considerable distance from the nest and with a loud tongue acts as an escort to the discomfort of the interloper. Thus but little clue can be had from the bird's actions as to the whereabouts of the brooding female, and in consequence, in spite of the number of nests in the region, relatively few are found, and those mostly by chance. The peculiar contents of one nest were originally five eggs of the willow ptarmigan, on top of which four eggs of the Pacific godwit had been laid. Evidently the latter bird had driven the ptarmigan away from its nest, as there were but three godwit's eggs in it when first observed, the fourth egg having been deposited on the following day. The entire nestful was left to hatch in order to ascertain whether or not the ptarmigan would be reared by the incubating godwit, but this composite set was later deserted and then despoiled by jaegers.
Eggs.—Mr. Brandt was fortunate enough to collect 20 sets of eggs of this rare species, which he describes in his notes as follows:
The egg of the Pacific godwit is subpyriform to ovate pyriform in outline with the majority following the latter shape although one set is elongate ovate. The shell is strong, smooth, slightly granular with somewhat of a luster, yet an occasional surface is almost dull. There are two general types of ground color—the greenish, that is the rule, and the brownish type that we but rarely encountered. "Serpentine green," dull "citrine" to "yellowish glaucous" cover the range of greenish ground colors, while "snuff brown" matches the other type. The surface markings are not as numerous as on most shorebirds' eggs, and in consequence they are more scattered than usual. These spots are small in most instances, but in a few beautiful sets they are large and, more rarely, even convergent on the larger end so as to form a rich blotch. In a few rare instances there were no surface markings at all, the paler underlying spots being the only decoration. The primary markings are irregular to elongated without a spiral tendency. In color they are "cinnamon brown," "snuff brown," and "mummy brown" or "brownish olive," usually the latter if the ground color is decidedly greenish. The underlying spots are not very bold, although they are numerous and occasionally of considerable size. These neutral spots range from "light mouse gray" or "Quaker drab" to "deep olive gray" in color. Additional markings of grayish black slightly fleck some eggs while they are wanting on others. In a few cases these markings assume the form of pen scratches which usually encircle the larger end. The eggs, which were the rarest that we took on the trip, were always four in number, except for one set of three and one nest of five eggs, the only abnormally large set that I met with among the Alaska species of the entire shore-bird group.
The measurement of his 80 eggs average 55.3 by 38.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 60.5 by 37.7, 52.6 by 40.7, 50.5 by 38.2, and 54.8 by 36.1 millimeters.
Young.—The same observer says:
Both birds share in the duties of incubation and are very zealous in defense of their treasures, especially when their pretty tawny brown chicks are first bursting forth. We saw the first downy young on June 18 when we came upon two and one hatching egg at an altitude of about 300 feet on the side of the Askinuk Mountains. These sturdy babies have little to fear from their marine enemies for their parents dominate the chosen domain with a vigor that no feathered creature can withstand. It is very interesting to watch the agitated father or mother running rapidly about, scolding, or wading in a pool of snow water, every now and then raising its long wings to a vertical position above its back, thus exhibiting the delicate tints of the underside, and then deliberately folding them one at a time.
Plumages.—The nestling Pacific godwit is warmly covered with long, thick, soft down, the prevailing colors of which are warm buff and sepia, in indistinct patterns; none of the markings are clearly defined, as in the sandpipers, but are soft and blended. The large circular crown patch is clear "warm sepia," extending in a median stripe down to the bill; there is a narrow loral stripe from the bill to the eye and a broader one, though less distinct, from the eye to the occiput, both "warm sepia"; above these, broad stripes of grayish buff extend from the lores to the occiput, nearly encircling the dark crown, from which a median stripe of the sepia extends down the neck. The back, wings, and thighs are softly variegated with "warm sepia," "wood brown," and "cinnamon buff." The under parts are largely "pinkish buff," suffused with "cinnamon buff" on the breast and fading out to nearly white on the chin. The down is all dusky or dark sepia at the base.
In fresh juvenal plumage, as seen in Alaska in August, the crown is streaked with sepia, the feathers edged with light buff; the feathers of the mantle, scapulars, tertials, and wing coverts are sepia or dusky, edged or notched with light buff; the rump and upper tail coverts are white, but much more heavily spotted with dusky than in the European form; the remiges are all conspicuously barred with dusky and light buff; the buff edgings fade out almost to white later on; the under parts are dull buffy whitish, shaded on the chest with deeper grayish buff. A postjuvenal molt begins in September, at which the body plumage is renewed, but not the remiges and few, if any, of the rectrices; most of the wing coverts are retained and some of the tertials. The resulting first winter plumage is like that of the adult except for the wings and tail.
At the first prenuptial molt the next spring the sexes begin to differentiate, the males being more richly colored with more cinnamon feathers in the white under parts, and the females have the throat and breast more or less streaked with sepia. This molt is incomplete and irregular, with much individual variation in the advance toward maturity. Sometimes there is very little or no molt, the worn winter plumage being retained until summer; sometimes new winter feathers are acquired; but usually some or many of the body feathers, the tail, and some tertials and wing coverts are molted and replaced with feathers like the adult. The new tail feathers of the first nuptial plumage are plain gray, unbarred. Birds in this plumage are found on their breeding grounds and probably breed at this age.
At the next molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter plumage is assumed by a complete molt from July to December. Adults have a partial prenuptial molt, between February and May, which involves most of the body plumage, usually the tail, some of the tertials, and some of the wing coverts; they also have a complete postnuptial molt beginning with the body plumage in July or August. In the adult nuptial plumage the central pair of tail feathers are barred completely; the others are usually plain gray, but sometimes the outer pair or two are partially barred.
Food.—Very little has been published on this subject. William Palmer (1899) says:
In the ponds they feed by keeping their bills in the water and move invariably all in the same direction, heads to the wind. With care I could approach within a few feet. Much the greater part of the stomach contents of these birds consisted of hundreds of minute threadlike aquatic larvae of a midge (Chironomis). Pieces of mollusks' shell had been swallowed by several of the birds. Flies, closely related to our common house fly, and tiger beetles were detected in small quantities. Of the six godwits, five had been killed on St. Paul Island, and had fed for the most part upon midges, which were probably abundant in a fresh-water pond on the island. The sixth bird was taken on Walrus Island. It had caught over 500 specimens of a species of beetle (Aegialites debilis), the sole representative of a unique family of beetles, described some time ago and subsequently lost sight of until recently discovered again.
The above report on stomach contents was made by Dr. S. D. Judd and has been amended by Preble and McAtee (1923), who report that the items of food, ranked by bulk, are flies, 76.6 per cent; beetles, 17; mollusks, 3.6; marine worms, 1.3; and vegetable matter, 1 per cent. The jaws of marine worms (Nereidae) were mistaken for jaws of tiger beetles.
Behavior.—Doctor Nelson (1887) writes:
They frequent open grassy parts of the country and are quick to protest against an invasion of their territory. As a person approaches, one after the other of the birds arises and comes circling about, uttering a loud ku-wew with such energy as to make the ears fairly ring. If their nests are near, or they have young, they come closer and closer, some of the boldest swooping close by one's head and redoubling the din. This same note is heard upon all sides while the birds conduct their courtships, and it serves also to express their anger and alarm. At the mating season the males have a rolling whistle also like that of the ordinary field plover, but shorter. When the birds fly at this time they hold the wings decurved and stiffened and make a few rapid strokes, then glide for a short distance. On the ground it walks gracefully, its head well raised, and frequently pauses to raise its wings high over the back and then deliberately folds them. They may be decoyed when flying in flocks if their whistling note be imitated. If wounded and taken in hand, they utter a loud, harsh scream.
Mr. Brandt says in his notes:
The Pacific godwit has wonderful powers of flight, and, as it wheels about protesting against an intrusion, the slightest beat of its long, decurved wings seems, without perceptible effort, to drive it forward like an arrow from the bow. That its power of flight is extraordinary is shown by the fact that it spends the winter time of the north in southern Australia and New Zealand. It migrates along the eastern coast of Asia and is one of the interesting Old World birds that find their northeastern limit on the Alaskan shores of Bering Sea. During the love-making period, shortly after this godwit's arrival on May 15, it could be heard for an hour at a time high up in the air, as it circled about, uttering continuously its wild far-reaching cry, which was very distinctive among the medley of voices. The call of the male is often answered by the female with the syllables, tut-tut, not unlike a clucking chicken. The Pacific godwit differed from the other shore birds nesting at Hooper Bay in that individuals in immature plumage were breeding. Sometimes a gray-breasted immature female would be paired with a rich plumaged male, or again both mates would be in full color; but I encountered many pairs in which both parents showed the light grayish breast of adolescence. In fact, the immatures seemed to be in the majority. It is believed that this godwit does not assume its fully adult feathers until the beginning of the third year; but, like the bald eagle, it breeds during the second year. The earliest spring arrivals at Hooper Bay were immatures and they seemed to migrate in separate flocks. One group of about 20 richly cinnamon-breasted adults stayed in our vicinity for several days from May 20 onward. Perhaps they were resting and feeding in preparation for the final stage of their journey to more polar lands for they, as well as all the other large flocks of godwits no doubt passed on to the north. The birds that nested in the Hooper Bay region arrived in an inconspicuous manner, simply filtering into their chosen haunts and were already mated.
Field-marks.—The Pacific godwit can be easily distinguished in the field from either of our two other American godwits. The marbled godwit has much more rufous in the upper parts, particularly in the wings, and has no white on the rump. The Hudsonian is very dark on the upper parts, almost black on the wings; it has a pure white rump and a black tail. The Pacific is dull brown above, with no rufous; it has a white rump, spotted with dusky, and a tail barred with dark gray and white.
Fall.—Doctor Nelson (1887) says:
These godwits are among the first of the waders to leave Alaska in fall. The young are flying by the middle of July and before the end of August not one of these birds, young or old, is to be found.
Young birds apparently wander northward and eastward before they start on their southward migration, for they have been taken in August at Wainwright and at Point Barrow in company with young dowitchers and red-backed sandpipers.
Range.—Alaska and eastern Asia south to Australia, New Zealand, and the Samoan Islands.
Breeding range.—The Pacific godwit breeds from northeastern Siberia (Taimyr Peninsula, Marcova, and Nijni Kolymsk); east to western Alaska (Unalaska Island, Hooper Bay, Kotlik, Pastolik, Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Blossom, and Kowak River).
Winter range.—The Malay Archipelago, Samoan and Fiji Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, and probably other islands of Oceanica.
Migration.—The migration route of this species is almost entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere, through the Commander Islands, Japan, China, and the Philippines. They have been observed to arrive in Siberia on May 10 (Bering Island) and May 30 (Nijni Kolymsk) and in Alaska on May 15 (Hooper Bay), May 20 (St. Paul Island), and May 29 (Unalaska). After the breeding season, individuals have been known to wander north to the Colville delta and Point Barrow. The latest date of fall departure noted for Point Barrow is August 18 and for St. Michael September 10.
Casual records.—One specimen obtained at La Paz, Lower California (Belding), and recorded as this species is now regarded as a marbled godwit, and there is one record from the island of Kauai, and several from Laysan, Hawaiian Islands (Bryan). A specimen taken on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on September 16, 1907, is referable to the European form Limosa lapponica lapponica.
Egg dates.—Alaska: 15 records, May 25 to July 9; 8 records, May 29 to June 5.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the red-letter days when I have been privileged to see this rare and handsome wader. It has always been among the great desiderata of bird collectors. Its eggs are exceedingly rare in collections. Many ornithologists have never seen it in life. I can find no evidence that it was ever common. All the earlier writers reported it as uncommon or rare. Audubon (1840) referred to it as "of rare occurrence in any part of the United States." He never saw it in life and handled only a few market specimens in the flesh.
Spring.—From its winter home in far southern South America the Hudsonian godwit migrates in spring by some unknown route to the coast of Texas, where it arrives in April. I saw three adults and collected a pair in fine spring plumage near Aransas Pass on May 17, 1923. From Texas and Louisiana it migrates northward through the Mississippi Valley, central Canada and the Mackenzie Valley to the Arctic coast. Prof. William Rowan in his notes refers to it as a scarce, but regular, spring migrant in Alberta; his dates are between April 29 and May 29. He and C. G. Harrold (1923) recorded 24 birds between these dates in 1923. Their records are as follows:
April 29, 2 flocks of 6 each (also 2 avocets on this date, although on the 30th it snowed all day); May 7, 2 Hudsonians at the lake and one with a party of marbled godwits at a muddy slough a few miles away; May 8, a flock of 4 Hudsonian and 2 marbled; May 15, flock of 3 Hudsonian, 2 marbled, and 1 Willet; May 22, a fine male Hudsonian with 8 or 9 marbled. One other specimen was seen flying over about May 10.
At Whitewater Lake, in Manitoba, Mr. Harrold noted one each day on May 10 and 11, 1924, and 12 at the same place in 1925, practically all between May 13 and 20. I saw one at Lake Winnipegosis on June 5, 1913, a late date. On the Atlantic coast it is known only as a rare straggler in the spring and it is practically unknown on the Pacific coast.
Nesting.—Practically all of what little we know of the nesting habits of the Hudsonian godwit is contained in Roderick MacFarlane's notes. A female and four eggs were taken near Fort Anderson on June 9, 1862, from a nest on the ground made of a "few decayed leaves lying in a small hole scooped in the earth." Another nest on the Lower Anderson was "on the borders of a small lake" and was made of "a few withered leaves placed in a hole or depression in the ground."
A set of four eggs, in the Thayer collection, was collected by Bishop J. O. Stringer at Mackenzie Bay, June 30, 1897, from "a nest situated in a hollow in the grass." Edward Arnold also has a set of four eggs, taken by Bishop Stringer in the same locality on June 29, 1899; the nest was "in a tuft of grass on an island in Mackenzie Bay."
Eggs.—The Hudsonian godwit probably lays four eggs normally, though there are sets of three in collections. What few eggs I have seen, not over a baker's dozen, are ovate pyriform in shape and have little or no gloss. The ground colors vary from "dark olive buff" to "olive buff," or from "light brownish olive" to "ecrue olive." They are usually sparingly marked with rather obscure spots, irregularly distributed, but generally mostly around the larger end, in darker shades of similar colors, such as "buffy olive," "light brownish olive," "buffy brown," "bister," or "sepia." There are usually underlying spots of "hair brown" or shades of "drab," and some eggs have a few black dots at the larger end.
A set in the United States National Museum is thus described for me by J. H. Riley:
No two eggs in this set are alike. They vary in ground color from a little darker than "citrine drab," through "light brownish olive," to "dark olive buff." The darkest egg has a zone of "olive brown" spots at the larger end, with a few "clove brown" dots here and there, and a few scattered spots and blotches of "olive brown" over the rest of the egg. The next darkest egg is similar, but with the contrast between the ground color and the "olive brown" zone more pronounced and an increase in size and number of the "clove brown" spots. The lightest ("dark olive buff" ground) egg has a solid cap of "clove brown" at the larger end and quite numerous blotches, scrawls, and spots of "clove brown" and "olive brown," with a few shell markings of "drab" over the rest of the surface.
Some of the eggs I have seen are much like well-marked eggs of the black-tailed godwit. The measurements of 27 eggs average 55.2 by 38.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 60.6 by 39.6, 56 by 41.2, and 51 by 35 millimeters.
Plumages.—I have never seen a downy young Hudsonian godwit nor any very young juvenals. The sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage and probably all through the first year. The plumages are alike in winter but the females are somewhat larger. A young female in juvenal plumage, taken in Maine in September, is similar to the winter adult, except that the crown is more streaked with dusky; the feathers of the mantle are "sepia," edged with "pinkish cinnamon"; the scapulars and tertials are edged, notched, or barred with "cinnamon," and the tail is tipped with buffy white. I have seen birds in this plumage up to October 13; but usually the partial postjuvenal molt of the body plumage and probably some of the scapulars and tertials begins in October. Material is lacking to illustrate the first prenuptial molt, which takes place in South America. Probably this molt is very limited in young birds. A female, taken on May 28 in Wisconsin, probably in first nuptial plumage, shows a mixture of fresh adult nuptial body feathers both above and below, and fresh tail feathers, but the primaries are worn. Probably at the next molt, the first postnuptial, which is complete, the adult winter plumage is assumed.
Adults have an extensive prenuptial molt, involving everything but the wings and perhaps the tail. This is accomplished during the late winter or early spring before the birds migrate. Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) says:
A male shot March 7 is in full winter plumage with worn primaries but newly grown tail feathers and lesser wing-coverts. Two females shot March 8 have renewed the flight feathers and tail and have the breeding plumage growing rapidly on the body.
The postnuptial molt is complete; the body molt begins in July and is well advanced towards completion when the birds reach our shores in August or September; the wings are apparently molted later, after the birds reach their winter homes in South America. There is a striking difference between the richly colored nuptial plumage and the dull and somber winter plumage, with the brownish gray upper parts and the pale grayish buff under parts.
Strangely enough, all the recent manuals that I have seen state or imply that the sexes are alike in nuptial plumage; and this in spite of the fact that many years ago Swainson and Richardson (1831) called attention to the striking difference between the two sexes, which are decidedly unlike. In the male the underparts are deep, rich brown, "Mikado brown" or "Kaiser brown," with much individual variation in the amount of black transverse barring, which is sometimes almost entirely lacking in the center of the breast. In the female, which is always somewhat larger, the under parts are barred with white, dusky, and brown; the feathers of the flanks are brown with three or four black or dusky bars and broad white tips; on the breast only the outer half of the feather is brown, the remainder is white, with two or three dusky bars and a broad white tip. Careless sexing may have caused the oft-repeated error.
Food.—Edward H. Forbush (1925) says that "the food of the Hudsonian godwit includes worms, many insects (including horseflies and mosquitoes), mollusks and crustaceans, and various small forms of marine life."
Behavior.—He also says:
While with us it seems to have a preference for sandy shores and sand spits, but it also frequents mud flats, beaches, and creeks in the salt marsh, and sometimes goes to the uplands after insects.
Dr. L. C. Sanford (1903), writing of the habits of the Hudsonian godwit in the Magdalen Islands, says:
On the islands where these birds congregate they frequent the large open lagoons where the low tide leaves exposed miles of sand bars. Here they follow the water's edge and wade in up to the full length of their long legs, feeding on animalculae and small larvae, for which their bill is peculiarly adapted, having the same flexible tip as that of the Wilson's snipe. With the rising water, first the small sandpipers, then the larger birds are driven from the flats; last of all, the godwit. They start in flocks of from 10 to 20 and keep well in the center of the lagoon, flying over the flooded flats, avoiding carefully all land, even the farthest points and islands.
The long black lines of birds undulating in their flight can readily be distinguished from any other shore bird. They have a very dark appearance. In a short half hour the last flocks have passed and there is no further flight until the next tide. At high water they congregate on the upper beaches, well out of reach of any disturber. For a long time it was impossible to arrange a blind in the range of the flight, but finally by piling up heaps of seaweed and staking them down far out in the shallow water, we managed to kill a small number. They quickly learned the danger, however, and would keep on their course just out of reach.
Dr. D. G. Elliot (1895) writes:
Like the other godwit, its larger relative, it is a shy bird during migration and keeps a watchful eye on an intruder in its domain, rising at a considerable distance and uttering its shrill cry. It sometimes decoys readily, setting its wings and sailing up to the wooden counterfeits, lured on by a close imitation of its note, but soon discovers the deception and either alights only for a moment or else wheels about over the decoys, and hastily departs, provided it escapes the rain of shot from the discharged gun of the concealed sportsman. About Hudson's Bay it is met with in large flocks, resorting to the beach when the tide is low, and feeding on the crustacea it discovers there, retiring to the marshes as the tide rises.
Professor Rowan writes to me:
Like the majority of waders, this godwit can swim with ease and has been observed swimming of its own accord when crossing from one sand ridge to another, and also when dropped into deep water after being shot in flight but not killed.
The flight of the species is distinctly "ploverish." The greater contrast, against its white parts, of its darker balance makes it distinguishable at considerable distance from the willet when in flight. They can easily be mistaken for each other if casually observed, especially in the grey plumage of young and fall adults.
In walking this godwit has much the same attitudes of the marbled, generally very ungraceful and altogether hunched up, neck closely drawn into the body. It is, however, altogether warier than the marbled and carries its neck stretched out more frequently.
On the whole it is an extremely silent species. I have seen dozens of birds but have only heard a call twice. This sounded like ta-it on both occasions, less raucous than the marbles call but in general quite reminiscent of it.
Doctor Wetmore (1926) says:
In plain gray winter plumage this godwit is as inconspicuous and nondescript in appearance as a willet. In general size it suggests a greater yellow-legs, but can be distinguished at any distance by its quiet carriage, for it does not practice the constant tilting that is the habit of the yellow-legs. These godwits sought company with scattered flocks of stilts or smaller shore birds, and in feeding walked rapidly, at times in water nearly to their bodies or again in the shallows. As they moved they probed rapidly and constantly in the mud with a nervous thrusting motion, often with the beak immersed clear to their eyes. Morsels of food that were encountered were passed rapidly up the length of the bill and swallowed. When their movements carried them too near the stilts the latter hustled them about, and made them run rapidly to escape their bills, but in spite of this discouragement the godwits remained in as close proximity as permitted to their belligerent neighbors, perhaps, because of similarity in feeding habit. Some Hudsonian godwit gave a low chattering call when flushed, a low qua qua that resembled one of the notes of L. fedoa. As they extend the wings to fly the dark axillars show as a patch of black and in flight the white tail, with black band across the tip is prominent. The birds are hunted to such an extent that they are exceedingly wary. When opportunity offered I took only a few for specimens.
Referring to their habits in Alberta, C. G. Harrold (1923) says:
The individuals in the parties seen on April 29 were feeding very close together like dowitchers. Not a single bird was seen on dry land and most of them were wading about in water 4 inches to 6 inches deep, one bird swimming after the manner of a yellow-legs which has waded out of its depth. Although the Hudsonian godwits associate with the marbled, the latter bully them considerably, chasing them away if they approach the marbled too closely when feeding.
Voice.—Mr. Harrold (1923) says that "their call note is a soft chip (very unlike the harsh notes of the vociferous marbled), and when alarmed they utter a low sandpiper-like chattering." They are usually very silent birds.
Field marks.—In spring plumage the Hudsonian godwit can be recognized easily at almost any distance by the rich brown underparts, almost black upper parts, white rump, and black tail; at a long distance it looks very black. On the wing in all plumages the white rump and black tail are conspicuous and the wings are diagnostic; the axillars are jet black and the lining of the wing is black; the wings are nearly black, with a small, central white patch, much smaller than that of the willet. An immature bird while standing, might be mistaken for a willet, but it is a much slenderer bird and has a longer, slenderer bill.
Fall.—Hudsonian godwits gather in flocks on the western shores of Hudson Bay, preparing for their eastward migration to the Atlantic coasts of the Maritime Provinces and New England. The normal migration route is probably over the ocean from Nova Scotia to British Guiana or Brazil, the birds being seen in New England and Long Island only when driven in by severe storms.
E. A. Preble (1902) saw a number on the beach about 50 miles north of York Factory as early as July 19, and it was last seen by him below Cape Churchill on August 24, 1900. This was the beginning of the eastward migration from Hudson Bay. The species is practically unknown in the interior of southern Canada in the fall.
Doctor Sanford (1903) writes:
I have seen these birds on some of the islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in large flocks. They arrive late in July, the first comers being steadily augmented by new arrivals until by the first week of August their greatest abundance has been reached. From this time on the numbers rapidly decrease, and by the last of the month only odd birds are seen. The young appear about the middle of September, and until October 1 are common in the same locations. On the adjacent mainland and the shores farther south the birds are seldom met with, and then only as odd stragglers. Where they stop next and what their course is on departing is a mystery. Probably they keep well out to the open sea, and along with the golden plover wisely skip the United States in the fall flight south.
As indicated above, Hudsonian godwits evidently pass by New England far out at sea in fair weather, as they are strong, swift fliers, capable of a long, continuous flight. But during heavy easterly storms they are occasionally driven in and onto our coasts. The first one I shot was one of four birds taken on Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, September 5, 1892, after a severe northeast storm, which lasted for two days and brought in a heavy flight of shore birds. This was an adult. I have two other birds, both young birds, taken on Cape Cod on October 2 and 4. Mr. Forbush (1912) reports "a flock of about 50 birds seen at Ipswich on August 26, 1908, of which several were killed." He also says:
On August 13, 1903, a large flight occurred on the Long Island coast and many were killed, but little was heard of them to the southward. The only flight of godwits that is shown on the record of Chatham Beach Hotel for seven years is in August, 1903. No birds were taken on the 13th, when the great flight appeared on Long Island, for at Chatham the weather apparently was fair, with a west wind. One bird, perhaps a straggler from the Long Island flight, was picked up on the 20th after a southeast wind had blown for two days. On the 26th a northeast wind set in, and it blew from the east or northeast for six days. On the 29th seven godwits were killed. During the seven years for which the record was kept godwits were taken only singly or in pairs, with the above exception, and the record shows 42 killed all told. Twenty-four were taken during east, north, or northeast winds; eight in northwest winds; six in southwest winds; two in west winds; and only one in a south wind.
Mr. S. Prescott Fay (1911) reports an unusually heavy flight at Cape Cod from early in August until October 22, 1910, during which 25 birds were shot on 17 different dates. He saw a flock of 10 on August 15, but says:
In most cases they were lone birds and, contrary to their habits, were tame and decoyed readily. However, on September 5, during a heavy easterly storm with a downpour of rain, a flock of 30 to 35 birds went over our stand at Chatham. Instead of alighting, as we supposed they would do, for they appeared very much exhausted, they continued their slow flight and disappeared, going due south in the heaviest part of the storm. However, a man a short way below us shot three of these birds as we watched them go over him high up, and later we found some one else above us had shot one from the same flock only a minute or two earlier. One of these men estimated that the flock contained over 40 birds, so my figures may be too low or else, after he fired, the birds may have separated so that we might have seen only part of the original flock.
Winter.—The winter home of the Hudsonian godwit is in extreme southern South America, from Argentina and Chile south to the Straits of Magellan and the Falkland Islands.
A. H. Holland (1892) says that, in Argentina, it "appears in flocks late in the winter after heavy rains from July to August. They were met with both in summer and winter plumage." Ernest Gibson (1920) reported it as formerly "very abundant, in numerous flocks, some of apparently over 1,000," in the Province of Buenos Aires. He says that—
On more than one of these occasions several birds have dropped to my gun. The flock would then again and again sweep round and hover over the individuals in the water, uttering loud cries of distress, quite regardless of my presence in the open and the renewed gunfire. Though the godwit is such an excellent table bird, I found myself unable to continue the slaughter under these circumstances. I might select my birds, but so closely were they packed together that the shots went practically "into the brown," and caused innumerable cripples.
Conditions have changed since then, for Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes:
Save for a record to be mentioned later, the Hudsonian godwit was first recorded on November 13, 1920, when four, in winter plumage, were found with small sandpipers on the tidal flats near the mouth of the Rio Ajo, below Lavalle, Buenos Aires. Two more were seen here on November 15. The species was not noted again until March 3, 1921, when two were seen along the Laguna del Morte in the outskirts of Guamini, Buenos Aires. Four more were found on March 4, one in brown dress and the others still in winter plumage. On March 5 eight were recorded, one only showing distinct signs of breeding plumage. On the day following three passed swiftly northward over the lake without pausing to alight, while on March 7 eight were seen together and a single bird later, and by a lucky shot I secured one, a male. March 8, 12 that fed in a small bay were so slow in rising that I secured 3. At dusk 12 more came to roost on a mud bar in company with golden plover. Though reported 50 years ago as found in great bands and among the most abundant of shore birds in this region, the small number that I have recorded here are all that were observed in continued field work throughout the winter range of the species. I was fortunate in seeing these, as by chance I found a spot where they tarried in northward migration from some point to the south.
The passing of this fine bird must be a cause for regret among sportsmen and nature lovers alike, to be attributed to the greed of gunners and to the fact that its large size and gregarious habit made it desirable to secure and when opportunity offered easy to kill in large numbers. There is little hope even under the most rigorous protection that the species can regain its former numbers. It would appear that the small number that remain winter mainly in Patagonia, as the species was encountered in any number only when in migration from that region.
Range.—North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains to southern South America. Now almost extinct.
Breeding range.—The only eggs of this species that have been collected were taken at Mackenzie Bay and on the Anderson River, Mackenzie. It has been reported in summer from Alaska (Kenai, Nulato, Ugashik, mouth of the Yukon River, and Point Barrow); east to Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands (Audubon); but in no case, save the one above mentioned, is there satisfactory evidence of breeding. Preble found it common on the Barren Grounds south of Cape Eskimo, during the early part of August, and it also was noted by him in the country north of York Factory, in the middle of July.
Winter range.—The Hudsonian godwit appears to winter only in southern South America. It has been taken or observed at this season in the Falkland Islands (Mare Harbor); Argentina (Chubut Valley, Lavalle, Azul, Buenos Aires, and La Plata); and Chile (Straits of Magellan, Ancud, and Valparaiso). MacFarlane (1887) reported them as abundant on the coast of Peru (San Juan) on November 9, 1883, but it seems unlikely that they were preparing to winter in that latitude.
Spring migration.—This species always has been apparently rare on the Atlantic coast in spring and but few records are available. Among these are Maryland, West River, May 6, 1886 (only record for the State); Delaware, Rehoboth, May 8, 1906; and New York, Long Beach, May 23, 1925. Records of spring arrival for the interior are not much more numerous but among these are: Louisiana, Vinton, April 22; Missouri, April 19; Illinois, Albany, April 22; Ohio, New Bremen, April 22, and Youngstown, April 26; Michigan, Detroit, May 14; Ontario, Point Pelee, May 13; Iowa, Blue Lake, May 7; Minnesota, Heron Lake, April 19, and Grant County, April 25; Kansas, Lawrence, April 19; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 10; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 8; North Dakota, Harrisburg, May 6; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 11; Montana, Terry, May 10; Alberta, Beaverhill Lake, April 28; Mackenzie, Fort Anderson, June 7; and Alaska, Fort Kenai, May 5, Valdez, May 10, Lynn Canal, May 12, and St. Michael, May 22.
Late dates of spring departure are: Ontario, Toronto, June 13; Iowa, Sioux City, May 17; Wisconsin, Albion, June 3; Minnesota, Grant County, May 15, Hallock, May 17, Hallock, May 18, and Mankato, May 25; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 22, and Ceresco, June 12; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 24; North Dakota, Charlson, May 22; and Manitoba, Shoal Lake, May 29, and Lake Winnipegosis, June 5.
Fall migration.—Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Keewatin, York Factory, July 19; Manitoba, Big Stick Lake, July 21; South Dakota, Artesian, July 10; Iowa, Sioux City, August 12; Ontario, Rupert House, July 30, and Toronto, August 20; Ohio, Pelee Island, August 24; Illinois, Mount Carmel, August 29, and Aledo, September 9; Louisiana, New Orleans, September 27; Rhode Island, Newport, July 29; New York, Shinnecock, August 8, Mastic, August 21, South Oyster Bay, August 25, and Quogue, August 31; New Jersey, Anglesea, August 26; North Carolina, Pea Island, September 13, 1911 (only record for the State); and West Indies, Barbados, October 5, and Dominica, October 8.
Late dates of fall departures are: Keewatin, Cape Eskimo, August 14, and Fort Churchill, August 24; Minnesota, St. Vincent, September 15; Wisconsin, Racine, November 1; Ontario, Ottawa, October 11, and Toronto, October 20; Quebec, Montreal, October 11; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, October 2, Ipswich, October 20, and Eastham, November 3; Connecticut, Little River marshes, October 11, and Lyme, October 30; Rhode Island, Newport, October 13; and New York, Onondaga Lake, October 13, Branchport, October 29, and Ithaca, November 5.
Casual records.—A specimen of the Hudsonian godwit was taken near St. George, Bermuda, in the fall of 1875.
Egg dates.—Arctic Canada: 8 records, June 9 to 30.
Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain
The only claim this species has to a place in the North American fauna rests upon its accidental occurrence in Greenland, where it is said to have occurred twice. There is, however, an element of doubt about the records. The first is due to Fabricius, who states in his Fauna Greenlandica that he had seen a single specimen; the next occurrence is said to have taken place near Godthaab, or if Holböll's reference is to the same specimen, at the Kok Islands near Godthaab, and was recorded by Reinhardt, senior, in 1824. The skin was sent to the Museum at Copenhagen, but Dr. J. Reinhardt, junior, was unable to find it there, as he states in the Ibis 1861, page 11. Winge pertinently suggests that there may have been some confusion with Limosa haemastica, of which species several specimens were sent to Copenhagen from Greenland, including one from Godthaab, sent by Holböll. The distance from Iceland to Greenland is not very great, but one would expect stragglers from that direction to arrive on the east side of Greenland instead of on the west side, where the great majority of accidental visitors are of Nearctic origin.
Spring.—Fortunately we are now in possession of fairly full and complete descriptions of the courtship activities of this species on the arrival at its breeding grounds in Holland (Huxley and Montague 1926). Here it appears during the last days of March; in 1925 the first arrival took place on March 25, but up to March 31 a large proportion of the breeding stock had not yet put in an appearance. It is, however, interesting to note that many of the birds were not only on their breeding territories, but were obviously in pairs, although some unmated birds were also present and small flocks of newly arrived birds were also met with. Evidently the males do not migrate in advance of the females in order to "stake out their claims," as is the case with certain other species.
In the British Isles, where the black-tailed godwit has long ceased to breed, it is now only an irregular passage migrant chiefly from mid April to mid June, in small numbers along the south and southeast coasts. The Iceland breeding birds, however, pass through Ireland on their way north and reach their destination during the latter half of April or early in May in small flocks, but in these northern latitudes the breeding season is naturally later than in Central Europe and the eggs are not laid till late in May.
Courtship.—This is dealt with by Huxley and Montague (1926) in considerable detail and is divided into seven sections: (1) The ceremonial flight and its variations, (2) the joint flight, (3) the tail display, (4) the scrape ceremony, (5) the pursuit, (6) fighting, and (7) coition. Taking these consecutively, the ceremonial flight is much the commonest and most striking action during the courtship period and is confined to the male alone. He rises at a steep angle with quickly beating wings, uttering repeatedly a loud trisyllabic call, tur-ee-tur. When a height of some 150 or 200 feet has been gained the real ceremonial flight starts. The most obvious point about it is the change of call—the quick trisyllable is suddenly replaced by a lower-toned disyllable, which may be represented by the letter ghrutoe (or grutto, the Dutch name for godwit).
This change was inevitable; on no single occasion did we hear it in any way departed from. The change in flight is equally notable. The quick beat of the wings is suddenly slowed and is replaced by a succession of slow, clipping strokes; at the same time the wings are markedly bent downward just as those of the redshank in some of his courtship flights. The tail is spread to the full and is twisted round, first to one side and then to the other. Simultaneously the whole body is tilted over in the same direction as the tail and the bird flaps along with slow wing beats and body heeled over for 20 or 30 yards. Then the tail is screwed over toward the other side, and the body heels over correspondingly. Thus the performing bird flies along rolling from side to side and repeating the grutto call continuously. We are, on the whole, inclined to attribute it to the rudder action of the tail.
The flight generally takes place within a circle of 150 to 300 yards in diameter and about 200 feet up, but both direction and duration are variable and Huxley has seen one bird "rolling" for over a mile in a straight line, while another has come down after a dozen wing strokes. The descent is even more striking; the rolling flight and call stop simultaneously and the bird glides with rigid wings suddenly nose-diving downwards with almost closed wings till about 50 feet from the ground when the wings are opened and the godwit sideslips in all directions. Just before alighting the wings are opened and held vertically for a second or two afterwards. Another method, occasionally used, is to descend with the wings about two-thirds open, causing a loud roaring noise due to the wind passing through the separated primaries, and in this case the bird alights directly with spread wings and tail.
The "joint flight" is shared by both sexes and is normal in character, both birds (but especially the male) calling quickly as when rising for the ceremonial flight. The female is generally slightly in front of the male on these occasions. During the "tail display" the male struts round the hen with the tail fully expanded like a fan, but depressed to about an angle of 60° to 70° with the horizontal and tilts it from side to side so that the black and white surface is presented to the female. The "scrape ceremony" is chiefly confined to the male who runs to a depression and crouches down in it with slightly open wings, tail coverts puffed out and compressed tail pointing upwards, while he presses his breast against the ground as if smoothing off a scrape. Females were noticed to go through this action with appreciably spread tails and after some scratching with the feet.
Other godwits are always pursued with loud outcry, as well as harriers, lapwings, etc., but there is little real fighting between males, and what there is does not seem to be of a particularly vicious type. The opponents face each other and attempt to seize each other's bills, striking with their feet as they descend from the jump. Such sparring rarely lasts longer than two or, at the outside, three minutes. In coition the hen stands rigid with horizontal bill, the male standing about a foot behind her "with vibratory wings and spread tail, uttering a clear disyllabic note; then he rises and floats forward above the female with dangling legs and no apparent change in the rate of vibration of his wings. He poses for a moment upon her back, still calling with wings held stiffly upspread and vibrating tail. Immediately after pairing both birds usually continue feeding."
Nesting.—The breeding grounds of this species vary considerably in character. On the great heaths of Brabant one may come across a pair nesting in short, dry heather; in the dune country on the Dutch coast they breed among the sea buckthorn and sallow bushes on the sandhills; in Texel most pairs prefer the rectangular patches of rich grass in the "polders" (reclaimed marshes), while in Jutland and Iceland a few pairs breed on the vast expanses of quaking marsh near the coast. Nowhere have we met with it more plentifully than in the Dutch polders where I have seen as many as 13 nests with eggs in a single day. All were much alike; a saucer-like hollow in the ground where the grass was thickest and richest, lined with a thick pad of dead grass.
Eggs.—Here are laid the four pyriform eggs; five have been recorded once or twice, but the only case of six eggs which is known to me was probably due to two females sharing a nest. As a rule the eggs do not vary much, though sometimes a single egg may be found in which the ground color is pale bluish gray with blotches of deeper ashy gray and a few darker flecks. The great majority of eggs vary in color from greenish or olive green to olive brown and occasionally reddish brown in ground, with blotches or spots of darker brown or olive and a few ashy shell marks. The measurements of 100 eggs average 54.71 by 37.37 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 59.8 by 37.8, 55.3 by 40.7, 48.5 by 37.7, and 55 by 34 millimeters.
Young.—The only estimate of the incubation period known to me is that of Faber, who gives it as 24 days, but recent evidence on this point is lacking. Both sexes share in the work of incubation, according to von Wangelin, and this is confirmed by Huxley and Montague, who noticed that in the earlier stages the male spent, at least in one case, three hours on the nest to one by the female. This, however, applies only to the daytime. Hantzsch's statement, that apparently it is carried out by the hen alone, seems to be quite erroneous. The downy young as soon as dried are led out of the nest and are closely attended to by both parents. Only a single brood is reared in the season.
Plumages.—The molts and plumages are fully described in "A Practical Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), to which the reader is referred.
Food.—Naumann (1887) records insect larvae, worms, snails and slugs, fish and frog spawn, tadpoles; also insects (Coleoptera, Orthoptera, and Odonata). On migration, shells of small marine and fresh-water mollusca have been found in stomachs, also insects, small shore crustacea (Gammaridae) and the usual sand or gravel.
Behavior.—The godwits are striking looking birds, readily recognizable in summer plumage by the cinnamon pink of the neck and breast and the bold contrast of black and white in the tail, taken in connection with the long legs and straight, slightly upturned bill. The latter character at once distinguishes them from the whimbrels and curlews and their large size marks them out from most of the other European Limicolae. The loud, musical, disyllabic call of the male is also very characteristic. In winter the warm coloring is lost, but the godwits are noisy birds and at this time of year the breeding note is replaced by a monosyllabic chut. Moreover, their contour when flying overhead is peculiar, for the long legs are carried out beyond the tail and have somewhat the effect of long middle tail feathers not unlike those of the Arctic skua or jaeger.
Fall.—In the British Isles they begin to appear on our southeast coasts in August, though not in any numbers as a rule, and have generally left before the end of October. The Iceland birds assemble in flocks at the end of August and leave the island by the beginning of September, while in south Sweden, the Baltic republics, and Poland they desert their breeding grounds in the latter part of July and drift southwards to the North German coast. None stay in Holland after September, and gradually they work their way southward to the shores of the Mediterranean, where a certain number winter in favorable localities. The main streams of migration seem to be towards the Straits of Gibraltar on the west side and along the east side of the Balkan Peninsula, but along the west side of the peninsula they are much scarcer. Considerable numbers of west Asiatic birds migrate to the marshes of the Euphrates and winter there, while others pass into India and Burma.