68 GRALLATORES. TOTANUS. SANDPIPER. 



one always the largest. Hind-toe short, and barely touching 

 the ground with its tip, or nail. Fronts of tarsus and of toes 

 scutellated. The plumage close and firm. Moulting double, 

 or subject to a vernal change. 



The Sandpipers are distinguished from the more typical 

 groups of the family, by having the bill hard, with its tip 

 pointed and sharp ; and being without those particular mus- 

 cles possessed by the birds with softer bills, or such a devel- 

 opment of the nerve, as we see exemplified in the genus 

 Scolopax, &c. This difference of structure in so important 

 an organ indicates a corresponding one in their economy 

 and mode of life ; and instead of seeking their food by prob- 

 ing in the soft sand or mud with their bills, they seize it 

 upon the surface of the earth, or search for it among the 

 gravel and stones on the shores of lakes and rivers, or on 

 those of the ocean. That food consists of insects, worms, 

 mollusca, and sometimes small fish. Some of the species 

 live entirely in the interior, and are but accidentally, if ever, 

 found upon the sea-coast, which is to others the place of ha- 

 bitual resort, during the period of their equatorial migra- 

 tion. They are all subject to a change of plumage on the 

 approach of the breeding season ; but except in one or two 

 instances, it is not violent, but confined to a more extended 

 and different distribution of the spots and rays by which 

 they are generally distinguished. Among the various species 

 which the genus contains, as at present constituted, there are 

 some strongly-marked aberrant forms, which, upon further 

 investigation, will probably be found to be types of genera, 

 or subordinate groups of the present one. Such appears 

 to be Totanus semipalmatus of TEMMINCK, with a very 

 thick and strong bill, and half-webbed feet. The Green- 

 shank also (Totanus Glottis), showing by the upward curva- 

 ture of the bill its affinity to Limosa and Recurvirostra, stands 

 upon the very confines of the genus. 



The Sandpipers generally live in pairs, or in small socie- 



