156 BRITISH BIRDS. 



BILL straight and slender; nostrils minute ; body 

 and legs like the Sandpiper; toes three before and 

 one behind, furnished with scalloped membranes. 



This curious genus, in its external aspect, would 

 seem to border closely on ,the Tringa family of the 

 Waders, while in the form of its toes and in some 

 of its habits, it approaches the true Swimmers. 

 " They row on the watery element with admirable 

 grace and rapidity, not dreading the waves, but 

 swimming with equal facility in the open sea as in 

 the lakes, preferring salt to fresh waters: on land 

 they do not run very fast. They breed in the 

 meadow grass close by the margins of lakes, and 

 feed on small insects and sea-worms, which they 

 pick up on the surface of the waves and along the 

 shore. The moult, which takes place twice a-year, 

 causes very considerable changes of plumage, and 

 the young differ greatly from the old birds. "- 

 Manuel d' Ornithologie. 



