THE WADING AND SWIMMING BIRDS. 173 



of wild Pigeons ? What of the power of flight in Pigeons ? What 

 of the Carrier Pigeon ? What are the Gallinaceous birds ? What is 

 said of the Curassows ? What does the Pheasant family include ? 

 What is said of the common Fowl ? What of the Argus Pheasant ? 

 How do the Grouse family diifer from the Pheasants ? What is said 

 of their size ? What is said of the California Quail ? What of the 

 Ptarmigans ? What are the peculiarities of the Sheath-bills ? What 

 is said of the Tinamous family ? What of the Greatfoots ? What is 

 said of the Cursores ? What of the African Ostrich ? What of the 

 Emu ? What of the Apteryx ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE WADING AND SWIMMING BIRDS. 



282. WE have now arrived at the Water Birds, the 

 Grallatores and the Natatores. The Grallatores are com- 

 monly called Waders ; but, as Carpenter says, they would 

 be more appropriately named Stilt-walkers, the real mean 

 ing of the word Grallatores, for they are all remarkable 

 for the length of their legs, while many of them can 

 scarcely be said to be aquatic in their habits. Those 

 which are most decidedly aquatic have their feet partial- 

 ly webbed. This is probably to enable them to swim in 

 case that they should get beyond their depth. Most of 

 the birds of this order find their food in the water, which 

 consists of fish, mollusks, aquatic worms and insects. 

 Their legs are, accordingly, both long and naked, so that 

 they may wade with facility, and their necks and bills are 

 long, that they may reach their food. They are generally 

 slender birds, and their wings are fitted for rapid flight. 

 Their tails are short, and they therefore stretch out their 

 long legs behind to act as a rudder, in place of the tails 

 of other flying birds (210). They are distributed wide- 

 ly over the earth, and many of them make periodical mi- 

 grations north and south. There .are six families : Bus- 

 tards, Plovers, Cranes, Herons, Snipes, and Rails. 



283. The Bustards are natives of the Eastern Conti 



