CLASS AVES. 



147 



FIG 251. 



^ 



Phil o he' la nil' nor. Woodcock. 



Its upper feathers mimic 



ORDER LIMICOLyE (IT mik'o le). 



The Plover-snipes have a long slender beak, without 

 hard-cutting edges, and wholly or in great part mem- 

 branous. Their narrow nos- 

 trils are placed low down, 

 and entirely surrounded 

 with soft skin. 



The Woodcock, repre- 

 senting all the Snipe fam- 

 ily, has a long, grooved, 

 flexible bill, well supplied 

 with nerves to the end, that 

 in probing deep into the 

 bogs and moist turf, it may 

 detect the worms and larvae, 

 well the herbage beneath it, and its eyes are placed so 

 far back, that their range of vision meets behind the 



head, making it a wary bird. 



The Avocet (av'6 set) possesses 

 a recurved, flattened bill, useful 

 for scooping up small fish and 

 aquatic insects, as it sweeps the 

 narrow runs, with a movement 

 like that of a mower swinging a 

 scythe. It breeds on the Atlantic 

 Coast from Texas to Long Island, 

 but most abundantly in the 

 Southern States, and also in cer- 

 tain isolated localities in the in- 

 terior of the Continent, particu- 

 larly in Salt Lake Valley and in the neighboring basins. 

 For a short distance it is one of the swiftest flyers. 



FIG. 252. 



Re cur vi ros' tra a mer i ca' na. 

 Avocet. (|.) 



