THE WADERS. 211 



large bunch of grasses; in the centre of this is ar- 

 ranged a quantity of dry weeds to the depth of sev- 

 eral inches; upon this slight bed the eggs are depos- 

 ited, generally four or five in number. The young, 

 when first hatched, are covered with a soft black 

 down, and soon learn to follow the hen through the 

 wet meadows, and upon the sound of danger to enter 

 the water fearlessly. 



The food of these birds consists of aquatic insects, 

 snails, worms, Crustacea, and the seeds of various 

 grasses which abound in the marshes where they re- 

 side. Their habits are partially nocturnal, as they 

 feed both by night and day. 



The families and species composing the order Gral- 

 latores are so numerous, that it would be impossible, 

 in the limits assigned to this work, to give even a 

 slight glance at the habits of any considerable por- 

 tion of them ; we must, therefore, passing over many 

 familiar and interesting species, confine ourselves to 

 some of the most prominent, and such as will most 

 clearly illustrate the peculiar manners of the Waders. 



Late in the Autumn, when the chilling blasts from 

 the regions of eternal snow are beginning to be felt 

 in more southern latitudes, bringing with them myr- 

 iads of the summer visitors to an Arctic climate, vast 

 trains of ducks, geese, etc., to seek again their win- 

 ter resorts beneath a milder sky, then may be heard 

 in the vicinity of our inland lakes and streams the 

 harsh voice of the Whooping Cranes, as they pass 

 swiftly overhead, in companies of from ten to fifty. 

 While migrating they fly high in the air, but when 



