WILLET. 143 



often diiFering merely in the distribution of the spots and stripes 

 with which it is varied ; frequently, only in the purity of its shades 

 in summer compared with that of winter. 



The birds of this genus (Chevaliers of the French) like the pre- 

 ceding, to which they are intimately allied, associate in flocks, though 

 some species appear inclined to lead a solitary life. They generally 

 prefer the borders of lakes, rivers, and fresh water marshes, to the 

 immediate precincts of the sea, or only visit the strand in a desul- 

 tory manner ; they also wade deeply, for which they are provided 

 with very long legs. They feed on insects, worms, small shell-fish, 

 and moluscous animals, which they often seek on dry ground, or on 

 the gravelly banks of rivers, by means of their hard, pincliing, and 

 less sensitive bills. They migrate periodically with the season of the 

 year, but usually inhabit more temperate regions than the true Sand- 

 pipers, and commonly breed in numbers together in the same mea- 

 dow or marsh. They are spread all over the earth, even some of the 

 same species are cosmopolites. Like the preceding, the races resem- 

 ble each other so much as to render distinctions sometimes ambigu- 

 ous. In addition to their other affinities, they are closely allied to 

 the Snipe and the Godwit, and particularly to Tringa by the RufF. 



Subgenus. — Catoptrophorus, (Bonap.) 



With the bill straight, stout, solid almost its whole length, fur- 

 rowed only at the base, the groove of the lower mandible obliterated. 

 The fore toes all connected at base by a membrane. — The female is 

 conspicuously larger. These birds not only wade, but occasionally 

 swim. 



