424 GRALLATORES. 



R D E E V I. 



Grallatores.* 



The word Grallatores^t wliicli literally means 67///- 

 ivaJkers, is synonyinous with the French term Les 

 Echassiers, which Cuvier has given to the present 

 order^ and which is generally applicable to the birds 

 included in it. They have by many naturalists been 

 termed Waders^ a title which is strictly correct so 

 far as regards the greater number of the species, 

 but not all. The birds of this order, says Cuvier, 

 are characterized by want of feathers at the lower 

 part of the thighs, and by the great length of the 

 tarsi, — two circumstances which permit them to 

 wade to a certain depth without wetting their 

 plumage, and thus to procure food by means of their 

 neck and beak, the length of which is generally 

 proportionate to that of their legs. Such as have 

 the beak strong live on fish and reptiles ; those 

 in which it is feeble on worms and insects. A few 

 feed partially on grains and herbage, and these live 

 at a distance from water, frequenting open plains 

 and extensive downs. 



The principal food of the whole race consists of 

 animal substances ; so that they have membranous 

 stomachs and not gizzards, though some have a 

 slight approach to that structure. These last occa- 

 sionally feed upon vegetables ; they pick up seeds 

 from the tops of high plants, and eat the leaves and 

 tender shoots. 



The Grallge in their general haunts are associated 

 with wildness and infertility. They give life to 

 those places which man neglects. They take up 

 the ground where the field birds end, and occupy it 

 as far as a walking foot can go in search of food — 

 to the uppermost part of the hill that will bear bent 



* Grallas, stilts; so called from their stilt-like legs. 

 t See " Animal Creation," p. 452. 



