394 GEALLATORES. 



polyphemus,) it is also called the Horsefoot Snipe. Length from 

 nine to ten inches. 



The DOTTEREL, C. morinellus, has had credit for possessing 

 great powers of mimicry. He has also been charged with so 

 great stupidity that 



"Acting every thing, he doth never mark the net, 

 Till he be within the snare which men for him have set." 



For this, however, thera seems not sufficient reason. When first 

 seen, it shows but little fear of man ; but this might be ascribed 

 to its freedom from persecution in its native wilds ; after a short 

 experience of human annoyance, it becomes more cautious. Its 

 " mimicking the action of the fowler by stretching out its leg, 

 wing, or head," may be little more than the actions of other birds 

 when aroused from their repose. The Dotterel feeds by night on 

 insects, slugs, and worms; in common with others of the Plovers, 

 it rests and sleeps during the day, and on this account, may 

 allow of a close approach, as is true of the Golden PI over. These 

 things considered, it can hardly be deemed proper to call it a 

 stupid bird. The upper parts of its winter plumage are of a 

 blackish-ash color with a tinge of green; a portion of the breast 

 and under parts white; the face is white, dotted with blue. Jn 

 their winter migrations, these birds visit Italy and Spain ; they 

 are particularly abundant in the Eastern parts of Europe and 

 Northern Asia, where the larger part of them breed. 



The SWIFT-FOOT or COURSER, Cursorius, (from Lat. cwrro, to 

 run,) is found in the hot regions of Asia and Africa. One spe- 

 cies, the BLACK-BELLIED COURIER, C. Temminckii, inhabits Abys- 

 sinia. The other species, C. IsabelUnus, or CREAM -COLORED 

 COURSER, is a native of Africa, but has occasionally been seen 

 in Europe. 



Glareola is a genus of Plovers confined to the Old World, 

 and including three species, one of which, the PRATINCOLE, G. 

 Pratincola, (meadow inhabitant,) is spread through the warm 

 and temperate regions of Asia, Africa and Europe. It has very 

 long wings and a greatly forked tail, and is remarkable for its 

 rapidity and power of flight. Mr. Gould speaks of it as "an 

 elegant and graceful bird." Its length is nine inches. 



Other species are the KILLDEER PLOVER, Charadrius vociferus, 

 which has its name from an imagined resemblance of its two 

 notes to the word Killdeer, and which breeds from Texas to 

 Massachusetts. 



The WHISTLING PLOVER, S. Helvetica, called the Bull and 



