404 GRALLATORES. 



skin, which is extremely sensitive ; and the organ is much used 

 in probing the soft mud or earth for the capture of minute in- 

 sects. The hind toe is pointed on the tarsus above the level of 

 the fore toes, and so short as to be unable to reach the ground ; 

 in some of the family, it is wanting. The Snipes have mode- 

 rately long feet and necks ; the wings are long and pointed ; and 

 their flight swift and well sustained ; the tail is short and even ; 

 the front toes are frequently united by a membrane, more or less 

 large. The plumage is of subdued and varied shades; black, 

 white, and red being intermingled and contrasted ; sometimes, 

 the prevalent hue is a grayish olive. The flesh of these birds is 

 held in high esteem. They frequent marshes, the banks of lakes 

 and rivers, or the sea-coast, on which they run with great swift- 

 ness. With considerable powers of flight, they have also the 

 faculty, in part, both of swimming and diving. The females are 

 usually larger than the males. They lay four eggs, with but 

 little nest, on the ground, of inland moors or fens. The young, 

 when they escape from the shell, are clothed with down, and 

 immediately begin to run about. The Snipes are widely distrib- 

 uted, and more or less migratory in their habits. 



Mr. G. R. Gray divides them into six sub-families, viz : 



(1) NumenincK, of which Numenius, (Curlew,) is the typical 



genus; (2) Totanina, typ. gen. Totanus, Tatler. Sand Lark, or 



Willet ; (8) Recurvirostrina, typ. gen. Recurvirostra, Avoset:) 



4) Tringince, typ. gen. Tringa, Sand-piper; (5) Scolopacina, 



olopax, Common Snipe ; (6) Strepsilince, Strepsilas, (included 

 by others in the Charadriada, or Plovers, which see ;) (7) Phal- 

 aropodina, PhaJaropus, Phalaropes. Of these, he enumerates 

 thirty-four British species. De Kay (1843) says, this family 

 contains, at present, upwards of one hundred species, distributed 

 over the globe ; of these, about twenty-eight, (according to Au- 

 dubon, thirty-two,) are in the United States. 



CURLEWS. 



The LONG-BILLED CURLEW, Numenius longirostris, is the 

 largest of the genus found in North America, known to sports- 

 men under the names of Big Curlew, and Sickle-bill. Its length 

 is from twenty-five to twenty-seven inches ; the color is blackish 

 brown above, with spots of a red hue beneath. The great length 

 of the bill, (Plate IX. fig. 6,) (seven to nine inches,) distinguishes 

 it from every other species. The Curlew forms a small nest for 

 its young on the ground. The day, the Curlew spends in the 

 sea marshes, but resorts at night to the sandy beaches of the sea- 

 shore. The number collected at their nightly retreat, it is said, 



