192 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



birds are bare of feathers above the knee ; and 

 in some they are wanting half way up the 

 thigh. The nudity in that part, is partly 

 natural, and partly produced by all birds of 



scribed in this portion of our work. The following cut 

 represents the Common Snipe. 



The Godwits are to be distinguished from the forego- 

 ing. The woodcocks, properly so called, inhabit woods. 

 The snipes live in fresh water marshes; but the god- 

 wits prefer the sea-shore. The passage of the last into 

 the temperate climates of Europe takes place in Septem- 

 ber, and, for their short stay, they frequent salt marshes, 

 where like the snipes, &c. they live on small worms, 

 which they draw out of the mud. Those which are 

 sometimes to be met with in island places, have doubt- 

 less been driven there by the wind. 'Mauduyt, who ob- 

 served some of them exposed for sale in the Parisian 

 markets, in spring, concluded, and justly, that they 

 moke a second passage in spring, and not that they ever 

 nestle on the French coasts. These timid birds, whose 

 sight moreover is weak, remain in the shade during the 

 day-time, and it is only by evening twilight, or early 

 dawn, that they proceed in search of food, for the dis- 

 crimination of which their bill is particularly fitted. 

 Little stones are sometimes found in their gizzard, but 

 A e cannot conclude that these hard substances answer 

 with them, as with the gallinas, for the trituration of 

 their food, which is too soft to require any thing of the 

 kind, but rather that they have been taken in along with 

 it. These birds are particularly wild, and fly precipi- 

 tately from the slightest appearance of danger, uttering 

 a cry which Belon compares to the smothered bleating 

 of a she-goat. At the time of their arrival they are 

 seen in flocks, and often heard, passing veiy high, in the 

 evening or by moonlight. But the moment they alight, 

 they are so much fatigued that they resume their flight 

 with much difficulty ; at such times, though they run 

 with swiftness, they can be easily turned, and sufficient 

 numbers driven together to enable the fowler to kill seve- 

 ral of them with a single shot. They remain but a short 

 time at one place, and it is not uncommon to find them 

 no longer in the morning, in those marshes, where, the 

 preceding evening, they had been extremely numerous. 

 For marbled Godwit, see Plate XX. fig. 17. 



The Sanderlings are found in Europe, in Asia, in 

 North America, and in New South Wales. They in- 

 habit the sea- shores, and abound, in spring and autumn, 

 both on the coasts of Holland and of this country. They 

 are only seen accidentally in countries remote from the 

 sea. There is but one species ; but as these birds, 

 which undergo two moultings, are most frequently seen 

 in their summer plumage, in which red, or reddish, is 

 the predominant colour, while in the winter it is gray, 

 it is not wonderful that naturalists .have made a distinct 

 species under the title of Charadrius Rubidus. The 

 sanderlings traverse in their periodical migrations a 

 large portion of the globe. But they are only seen ac- 

 cidentally along rivers, which leads to the presumption 

 that their aliment consists of small marine worms and 



this kind habitually wading in water. The 

 older the bird, the barer are its thighs ; yet 

 even the young ones have not the same downy 

 covering reaching so low as the birds ot any 



insects. They breed in the North. The following 

 cut represents a Common Sanderling. 



The Sea Larks, a name exceedingly improper, as 

 tending to the confusion of two genera so widely remote, 

 never quit the edge of waters, and especially prefer the 

 sea-shore, although they occasionally remove to a con- 

 siderable distance from it, since they are frequently seen 

 around the lakes and along the rivers of the Vosges and 

 the Pyrenees. They are birds of passage, at least in 

 many countries of Europe. They proceed very far to 

 the north ; for they are found in Sweden, on the borders 

 of the Caspian sea, and throughout the whole of Siberia. 

 During winter they are very common both in France 

 and England. The species is named by Latham, Purre 

 Sandpiper. Except during the nestling time, these 

 birds unite in flocks, often so crowded, that a great 

 number of them may be killed by a single shot. Noth- 

 ing, says Belon, is more wonderful concerning this little 

 bird, than to see five or six hundred dozens of them 

 brought, on a single Saturday, in winter, to the Paris 

 market. They constitute an excellent game, but must 

 be eaten fresh ; they are not, however, destitute of that 

 oily taste which appertains to almost all species of 

 aquatic birds. 



The Plovers habitually frequent the sea-coast, the 

 mouths of rivers, and salt marshes. They feed upon 

 Crustacea, and small molluscous animals, which they 

 catch in the sand along the line of waters, over which 

 they are seen continually flying, uttering a little cry. 

 Many species live solitarily, or in couples; some others 

 in small flocks. These birds are to be found in almost 

 all the countries of the globe, from the equator to the 

 coldest latitudes of the northern and southern hemi- 

 spheres. They are all clad in sombre colours, the dis- 

 tribution of which is, however, not unpleasing. Most 

 of them undergo a double moulting, and are vested in 

 various liveries, according to age and sex. Some 

 species have spines, which serve as defensive weapons, 

 attached to their wings ; some others have fleshy ap- 

 pendages at the base of the bill. The plovers emigrate 

 every year, in flocks of greater or less numbers, and 

 this principally takes place in autumn, during the rainy 

 season, whence their French name (pluviers) is derived, 

 and of which our word plover is an obvious corruption. 

 At this time they are seen in the greatest abundance. 

 They do not remain quiet when on the ground, but are 

 seen in incessant motion. They fly in an extended 

 file, or in transverse zones, very narrow and of a great 

 length. Their flesh is delicate and much esteemed. 

 They are frequently taken, in great quantities, in the 

 countries where they are common, by means of nets 

 variously fabricated. 



Of these, the first and most common is the Golden 

 Plover. This bird frequents humid and marshy grounds. 

 In winter it is very common on the coasts of France and 

 Holland. It is found in England during the entire 



