American Game Bird Shooting 
SNIPE-LIKE BIRDS 
Limicole. 
The great order Limicole stands between the galli- 
naceous birds on the one hand, and the herons, cranes, 
rails, and their allies on the other. This order, known 
as shore birds, or the plover-snipe group, is a large and 
cosmopolitan order. The species are usually of small 
size and the legs are long, as is usually—but not always 
—the bill. In certain of its characters the skeleton 
resembles those of the gulls and auks. The birds live 
in open places on the ground and usually near water 
or in moist situations—though to this rule there are 
marked exceptions. The young leave the nest and run 
about as soon as hatched; in other words, as the natur- 
alists say, they are pracocial. The eggs are few in 
number, averaging about four. The food is chiefly 
insects, worms, small shellfish or other soft animals 
which are found in sand or mud. The wings as a rule 
are long, flat and pointed, but are sometimes rounded. 
The tail is usually short. The head is almost always 
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