WATER BIRDS. 











Barlram s Tatler. 



Woodcock. 



The Peetweet, one of the commonest of the marsh birds of the Middle and Eastern States, comes from 

 Mexico and the West Indies north about the first of May, and breeds in the former regions as far as the 

 St. Lawrence. They are seen flying in flocks along the margins of tide-water streams in search of their 

 usual food, worms, insects and small shrimps. They are named from their wonted plaintive cry. 



Bartram's Tatler is twelve or thirteen inches long. It is found, according to the season all over our con- 

 tinent, retiring for the winter to the far south, and returning north from early May onward. These birds 

 are considered delicious game. 



The American Woodcock differs little in appearance or habits from the European. The female is thirteen 

 and a half inches from point of bill to tip of tail, and the male twelve inches. The bill is very long and so 

 exqusitely sensitive at the tip, that the bird can determine what it is feeding upon without seeing it. It 

 winters in countries south of the United States, and comes northward in early March, but gjes no further 

 north than the St. Lawrence, breeding in all the intermediate regions. It feeds on aquatic worms, larvae, 

 and glutinous l'oots, and its flesh is very highly prized. 



The Soree, or Common Rail, winters in the marshes of Georgia till the close of February, and on the first 

 of May is seen in the watery meadows below Philadelphia They breed in the remote fur countries of 

 the north. Their favorite haunts are reedy marshes, lagoons, and river-borders, where they procure their 

 favorite food, the wild rice plant. From the middle of September to that of October, having returned to 

 the middle states with their new broods, they are in a prime condition for the table. 



_-..^c^^. 



Ml 



Spotted Tat^r pt ffetweet. 



Rail 



