WADING BIRDS. 



449 



strong beak, live npon fishes and reptiles ; those in 

 which the bill is long and feeble, upon worms and 

 insects : a very small number satisfy their appetite 

 by devouring grain or herbs, and these only such as 

 live at a distance from water. In a few instances 

 tlie toes are partially webbed, and in some the 

 hinder toe is entirely wanting ; circumstances which 

 have considerable influence in causing their habits to 

 be more or less aquatic. Their wings are long, and 

 they generally Hy well. During flight their legs are 

 stretched out behind, while in other birds they are 

 generally folded beneath the body. They are sepa- 

 rable into four tribes, namely, the Pressirostres, tlie 

 Cultrirostres, tlie Longirostres, and the Macrodactyles- 

 The tribe Pressh'ostres* comprehends such genera 

 as have their legs long and their hind-toe too short 

 to touch the ground. Their beak is sufticiently 

 strong to pierce the ground in search of worms, and 

 consequently the smaller species may be seen run- 

 ning about in meadows and newly-ploughed fields. 

 Others possessed of stronger bills, likewise eat grain 

 and plants. In this tribe are classed 



Fig. 376,— ringed plovki:. 

 * Pressus, compressed; rostrum, the heaJc. 



