458 fiRALLATOKES. 



ineiit of nerve is distributed over its surface^ but 

 more especially at the tip, tlie membrane covering 

 which is soft and pulpy, and endowed with an ex- 

 quisite sense of touch. In many species the bill is 

 further provided with a peculiar muscle, which 

 operates so as to expand the pulpy points of the 

 upper mandible, enabling the bird, with its bill 

 buried in the ground, to seize prey the moment 

 it is felt. From this peculiar mode of searching for 

 their food, many species of the Snipe, the Woodcock, 

 &c., have been called birds of suction. The distri- 

 bution of the Scolopacid^B is very general ; their 

 powers of flight are considerable, and they are all 

 more or less migratory in their habits. They incu- 

 bate on the ground ; the eggs are four in number, 

 of a peculiar form, being small and pointed at one 

 end, large and obtuse at the other ; and they are 

 usually placed in the nest in a circle, with the acute 

 ends meeting in the centre, so as to occupy as small 

 a space as possible. The flesh of man}^ is in high 

 estimation. 



This family comprehends the Grodwits, the Long- 

 shanks, the Avocets, the Sandpipers, the Snipes 

 proper, and the Phnlaropes. 



