300 TOTANIN^E. 



quill longest ; inner secondaries elongated and tapering. 

 Tail short, rounded, of twelve rather soft feathers. 



These birds, which are most strictly littoral and true 

 waders, frequent the margins of the sea, estuaries, rivers, 

 and lakes, or marshy grounds. Their food consists of mol- 

 lusca, insects, Crustacea, and other animals, which they obtain 

 in the water or on the ground, sometimes also by probing 

 the mud or soft sand. Gregarious in winter, they then 

 collect into small bands, and frequent chiefly the estuaries. 

 They run with great celerity, but not so continuously as the 

 Tringina?, their mode of searching being more desultory than 

 theirs ; and are remarkable for vibrating or balancing their 

 body when standing. Their flight is rapid, light, and rather 

 buoyant and wavering ; and their cries are loud and shrill, 

 and under excitement reiterated. Most of the species are 

 more or less migratory. Their nests are slightly constructed, 

 or merely a hollow, with some vegetable fibres ; the eggs 

 four, pyriform, and spotted. The young, covered with down, 

 are active from the first, but usually conceal themselves by 

 crouching. Their flesh is equally esteemed with that of the 

 Trin gime. 



Fig. 24, 



SYNOPSIS OF TEE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES 



GENUS I. RECURVIROSTRA. AVOSET. 



Bill more than twice the length of the head, very slender, 

 depressed, tapering to a point, and slightly recurved ; the 



