Shore-bird Shooting 317 



In the West the conditions are not yet so bad, 

 as larger game is still fairly abundant ; but as the 

 swamps are drained, the plains ploughed for crops 

 or fenced for pasture, localities suitable for the 

 breeding of these birds are rapidly decreasing, 

 and species abundant only a few years ago are 

 now hardly common. Some few varieties may 

 hold their own, adjusting themselves to circum- 

 stances, but to many this is impossible ; and with 

 their departure our country will lose to a nature- 

 lover some of its most pleasing ornaments. 



Shore-birds are usually small, the largest at- 

 taining about the size of a grouse. The habits of 

 most of them are expressed in their name, or by 

 " mud dwellers," a literal translation of Limicolae ; 

 although a few groups, as the coursers and thick- 

 knees, inhabit sandy, barren tracts far from water, 

 the woodcocks often dry and woody hillsides, and 

 the pratincoles catch their food in the air like a 

 swallow. They are wading birds, feeding as a 

 rule on insects, crustaceans, shellfish, and even 

 small fish, which they catch in the water or pick 

 up along the shore. A few species devour 

 worms, for which they bore in the mud, and those 

 frequenting the uplands live largely on grass- 

 hoppers, crickets, and berries of various kinds. 

 Fitted for such a life, their legs are usually long, 

 their necks long, and, except in one group, their 

 hind toe is small and sometimes absent. In some 



