American Game Bird Shooting 



SNIPE-LIKE BIRDS 



Limicola. 



The great order Limicola stands between the galli- 

 naceous birds on the one hand, and the herons, cranes, 

 rails, and their allies on the other. This order, known 

 as shore birds, or the plover-snipe group, is a large and 

 cosmopolitan order. The species are usually of small 

 size and the legs are long, as is usually but not always 

 the bill. In certain of its characters the skeleton 

 resembles those of the gulls and auks. The birds live 

 in open places on the ground and usually near water 

 or in moist situations though to this rule there are 

 marked exceptions. The young leave the nest and run 

 about as soon as hatched ; in other words, as the natur- 

 alists say, they are prsecocial. The eggs are few in 

 number, averaging about four. The food is chiefly 

 insects, worms, small shellfish or other soft animals 

 which are found in sand or mud. The wings as a rule 

 are long, flat and pointed, but are sometimes rounded. 

 The tail is usually short. The head is almost always 



