60 GRALLATORES. IBIS. IBIS. 



which completes the circle of the order, it is linked, through 

 the medium of Tringa, &c. with the genera Vanellus, Are- 

 naria, &c. of that aberrant family. 



The Scolopacidce are the inhabitants of marshes, and the 

 shores of lakes, rivers, and the sea. They live entirely on 

 animal matter, such as worms, insects, mollusca, the roe and 

 small fry of fishes. Most of the genera procure food by 

 thrusting the bill into the soft earth, or the mud of shores, 

 and thence extracting their prey ; and, to facilitate this, an 

 extraordinary development of the nerve is distributed over, 

 and to the extreme point of the bill, thus endowing them 

 with an exquisite sense of feeling ; and, in many species, this 

 member is further provided with a peculiar muscle, which, 

 by the closing or contracting of the upper part of the man- 

 dibles, operates so as to expand them at the point, and enables 

 the bird, with the bill still buried in the ground, to seize its 

 prey the moment it is aware of being in contact with it. 

 From this particular mode of searching for their prey, these 

 are frequently styled " Birds of Suction." They all possess 

 a great power of flight, having an ample development of 

 wing, and are generally subject to the laws of migration. 

 Species of this family are found in all parts of the world, and 

 many of the genera have a very wide geographical distri- 

 bution. Their nidification is on the ground, and they lay 

 four eggs of a peculiar form, one end being large and round- 

 ed, the other decreasing to a point. The position of these 

 in the nest is with the rounded end outwards, the smaller in- 

 wards, and meeting together in the centre of the nest. Thus 

 placed, they occupy a small space, and are more easily co- 

 vered in incubation than they would be if disposed in any 

 other form. The flesh of these birds is in general succulent 

 and well-flavoured. 



