llll-: VNADlMi BlKD-i. 465 



ourselves appropriated altogether ; for, let us have aequired them liow we may, they are 

 uot the less under her dominion. Has she not, for example, quartered upon us such 

 troublesome guests as the rat in our houses, the swallow under our windows, and the 

 sparrow beneath our roofs ? And when she calls the stork to the summit of the ruined 

 tower, within whose walls the night-bird has already taken up his abode, does she not 

 seem hastening to resume the possessions which we have usurped for a period, but which 

 she has commissioned the resistless hand of Time to restore to her domain ?" 



In this enumeration, Buffou has included some of the Wading Birds, which strikingly 

 illustrate the observations he makes. The structure and general conformation of this 

 great family admirably adapt them to the local situation appointed for them, and tlio 

 nature of their food. The woods, the hills, and the verdant plains are not their portion, 

 neither is the sea, nor the larger rivers and lakes, on the surface of which, far away from 

 the shore, so many revel in a congenial element; but theirs are the swamp, and the 

 morass, and the low and 0023' lands which border the sea and its petty creeks and inlets. 

 Here they find their food, which consists of the smaller fishes, reptiles, snails, insects, 

 and water-plants. Their legs are accordingly of great length, the thighs often bare of 

 feathers for a considerable distance, and the toes either long and spreading, or partially 

 webbed ; many, if necessity requires, can swim, and some few swim and dive with great 

 dexterity. 



In proportion to the length of thgir legs is that of the neck, or at least generally so ; 

 and where the neck does not bear a due relative proportion, its length is usually made 

 up by that of the beak ; but in many, as the stork or the heron, we find both the neck 

 and the beak equallj' elongated. In the structure of the beak the wading birds offer 

 much variety, according to the particular natui'e of the food to be obtained. In many it 

 is long, powerful, and pointed ; in others, broad and rounded ; and again, in others soft 

 and pulpy at the tip, and supplied with nerves, so as to perform the office of a feeler 

 when inserted into the oozy mud in search of minute insects or seeds. Thus the 

 heron, the spoonbill, the oyster-catcher, and the woodcock, afford examples by way of 

 contrast, in each of which we find this organ so modified as to be consonant to the 

 nature and habits of its possessor. 



The order Gralhi/ores is ^■ery extensive, and includes a vast assemblage of subordinate 

 groups. Besides those on the border-line, it comprehends cranes, storks, herons, ibises, 

 plovers, snipes, sandpipers, and very many more. Our limits will therefore allow only of 

 a general outline, illustrated by some of the best examples, that the main and dis- 

 tinguishing features of the whole may be clearly understood. 



Nor should it be overlooked, that whatever attraction these birds may present to the 

 scientific ornithologist, they are highly interesting to all who love the study of nature. 

 The very place they occupy is peculiar^ worthy of consideration, as here we may obtain 

 a distinct view of the sj'stem that prevails throughout the regions of animated beings. 

 For here may be observed birds which link together the Grallatores with some of the 

 Gallinae, while others are united with the Natatores, the Swimming Order of birds, which 

 we shall subsequently contemplate. Of the former, the first bird now to be described 

 will furnish an example. 



2h 



