GRALLATORES. 



50/ 



Flamingo (Phcenicopterus ruber) occurs abundantly in various 

 parts of southern Europe. It stands between three and four 

 feet in height, the general plumage being rose-coloured, the 

 wing-coverts red, and the quill-feathers of the wings black. 

 The tongue is fleshy, and one of the extravagances of the 

 Romans during the later period of the Empire was to have 

 dishes composed solely of Flamingoes' tongues. Other species 

 occur in South America and Africa. 



ORDER II. GRALLATORES. The birds comprising the order 

 of the Grallatores, or Waders, for the most part frequent the 

 banks of .rivers and lakes, the shores of estuaries, marshes, 

 lagoons, and shallow pools, though some of them keep almost 

 exclusively to dry land, preferring, however, moist and damp 

 situations. In accordance with their semi-aquatic amphibious 



Fig. 219. Grallatores. A, Leg and foot of the Curlew ; B, Head of Snipe ; 

 C, Beak of the Avocet. 



habits, the Waders are distinguished by the great length of their 

 legs ; the increase in length being mainly due to the great elon- 

 gation of the tarso-metatarsus. The legs are also unfeathered 

 from the lower end of the tibia downwards. The toes are 

 elongated and straight (fig. 219, A), and are never completely 

 palmate, though sometimes semi-palmate. There are three 

 anterior toes, and usually a short hallux, but the latter may be 

 wanting. The wings are long, and the power of flight usually 

 considerable ; but the tail is short, and the long legs are 

 stretched out behind in flight to compensate for the brevity 

 of the tail. The body is generally slender, and the neck and 

 beak usually of considerable length (fig. 219, B). They are 

 sometimes polygamous, sometimes monogamous, and the young 

 of the former are able to run about as soon as they are hatched. 



