WADING BIRDS 



(Grallatores. TcmmincJc.) 



In this tribe the bill varies in its form, but is mostly 

 straight, and carried out into a lengthened and compressed 

 cone, though rarely it is depressed or flat. Legs and feet 

 long and slender, the former more or less naked above the 

 knees: the toes mostly three before and one behind, the 

 hinder one on a level with, or more elevated than the rest. 



The Wading Birds are nearly all more or less nocturnal' 

 in their habits; they course along the borders of seas, lakes, 

 and rivers, and feed, often indifferently, on fish, fry, reptiles, 

 and on land and aquatic insects; those provided with a 

 strong and hard bill, give a preference to fish and reptiles, 

 while those with flexible mandibles, feed on worms and in- 

 sects. They are all provided with long wings, so necessary 

 to sustain them in the distant journeys which they periodi- 

 cally undertake, and for which they assemble themselves 

 into flocks, the young and the old proceeding in separate 

 companies. In the autumn, unable to procure sustenance, 

 by reason of the frost, they migrate to mild climates. While 

 sustained in the air, their feet are usually seen stretched out 

 behind them ; their gait is slow, with measured steps ; though 

 at the same time, some of the birds included in this general 

 order run with great celerity, as might be expected from the 

 concurrent formation of their leers and feet. Most of these 

 birds enter the water, without attempting to swim ; some 

 1 



