td 
292 
CHAPTER IV. 
GRALLATORES, OR WADING BIRDS, 
Tue most striking characteristic of the Waders consists in the naked- 
ness and length of their tarsi, which sometimes attain to really 
extraordinary dimensions: some of these birds look as if they were 
mounted on stilts. This peculiarity of conformation is, however, well 
adapted to their modes of life. They inhabit, for the most part, 
river-banks, lakes, and marshes, in which they find their sustenance ; 
consequently, they are fearless of water and ooze. The Agami, the 
Bustard, and the Ostrich, as well as the Emu and other S/ruthionide, 
which are placed by naturalists with this family, are not aquatic ; they 
inhabit the interior of the country, and are either herbivorous or 
granivorous. 
The bills of these Birds assume very various forms. ‘They are 
generally long ; but, according to the species, they may be thick or 
slender, tapering or flat, blunt or pointed, strong or weak; and in 
some kinds, such as the Flamingo, the Spoonbill, and the Boatbill, 
they really defy all description. ‘The neck is always slender, and in 
perfect harmony with the length of the legs. 
Almost all the Waders are Birds powerful on the wing, and twice 
a year most of them migrate, like Ducks, Geese, and Swans. There 
are, however, exceptions to this rule. Some of them—the Bustard, 
for instance—move through the air with difficulty, although their 
inferiority in this respect does not reach to complete inability ; others, 
as the Brevifenne, are absolutely unable to fly at all: their wings 
being altogether rudimentary, and are only useful for accelerating 
their pace in running; and, thus assisted, they are remarkably swift. 
The nature of their food varies with the form and strength of the 
bill and the locality they inhabit ; it consists generally of fish, small 
batrachia, molluscs, worms, and insects ; sometimes of small mam- 
malia and reptiles, and more rarely of grasses and seeds, This kind 
of sustenance must be wonderfully fitted to develop the savoury 
qualities of their flesh, for it is among this class that we find our 
