250 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



patches of very dark brown, tipped with lighter 

 shades of that colour : the tail hoary ash-coloured 

 brown, and surrounded with white at the base : 

 the legs yellow. 



These birds form a part of those vast tribes 

 which swarm about Hudson's Bay, and the north 

 of Europe and Asia, during the summer months, 

 and are but thinly scattered over the other quar- 

 ters of the world. They visit the fens and marshy 

 places in England, in small flocks, in the winter 

 months, and disappear about the beginning of 

 March. It is said that they never feed on the 

 corn fields, but confine themselves wholly to such 

 wilds and swamps as are constantly covered with 

 water. 



