godwit. Having often seen these birds swirling about at a dizzy
pace and listened to the roar of their long knife wings as they
smote the air in a playful descent, I felt assured that when the
hawk started after them he would be very much outclassed. Yet in
less than half a mile he was among them, had singled a victim and
was stooping wickedly. Each time the godwit dodged, he emitted an
angry or terrified cry, but the silent pursuer, with never a sign
of fatigue, swooped and swooped and wore him down. Each time now
the hawk overshot his mark a little less in the turnings. The last
resort of the godwit was exactly that of the other snipe, but the
former being over the big slough, dropped into the water. I saw the
hairbreadth escape and the splash, but whether or not the godwit
dived to get away, I could not tell. Some of the sandpipers can
dive well, and probably the godwit escaped thus.
_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.
DISTRIBUTION
_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.
LIMOSA LAPPONICA BAUERI Naumann
PACIFIC GODWIT
HABITS
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.