Shore Birds 



The bodies of these small sea snipe, as they are often called, are 

 depressed, covered with thick plumage to resist water that they 

 spend much time upon, for their feet are furnished with nar- 

 row lobes that enable them to swim well. They are smaller 

 than the robin. The curious characteristic of this family is 

 that it contains the most advanced female among all the feath- 

 ered tribes ; this strong minded creature wearing the gay colors, 

 doing the wooing, and gayly disporting herself, while the male 

 incubates the eggs and attends to nursery drudgeries. 



Wilson's Phalarope 



Northern Phalarope 



Avocets and Stilts 



(Family Recurvirostridce) 



Usually one sees a small flock of these waders, very long 

 of legs, slender and depressed of body, and with a long, sharp 

 bill, curved upward like an upholsterer's needle or a shoemaker's 

 awl. This bill, which is of extreme sensitiveness, probes the 

 mud in the shallows where the birds wade about for food. 

 Sometimes called wading snipe, they swim, when necessary, as 

 easily and gracefully as they walk. Their plumage may differ 

 with the season, but the sexes and young are alike. 



American Avocet 



Black-necked Stilt 



Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



(Family Scolopacidce ) 



Generally the sensitive bill is long and straight, often several 

 times longer than the head, and frequently curved slightly up- 

 ward or downward. With this tool these birds probe the sand 

 or mud for food, feeling for what they want, and using the bill 

 also as a forceps. Often the upper prong may be bent at will for 

 hooking the earthworms out. Birds of this numerous family 

 have four toes instead of three; but, in most instances, the struc- 

 ture is very like that of the plovers. Plumage, which is plain 

 colored, varies with the season, but little with the sexes or with 

 age. Usually the female is the larger. These birds average 



192 



