THE WADING AND SWIMMING BIRDS. 173 
of wild Pigeons? What of the power of flight in Pigeons? What 
of the Carrier Pigeon? What are the Gallinaceous birds? What is 
said of the Curassows? What does the Pheasant family include ? 
What is said of the common Fowl? What of the Argus Pheasant ? 
How do the Grouse family differ from the Pheasants? What is said 
of their size? What is said of the California Quail? What of the 
Ptarmigans? What are the peculiarities of the Sheath-bills? What 
is said of the Tinamous family? What of the Greatfoots? What is 
said of the Cursores? What of the African Ostrich? What of the 
Emu? What of the Apteryx? 
CHAPTER XVII. 
THE WADING AND SWIMMING BIRDS. 
282. We have now arrived at the Water Birds, the 
Grallatores and the Natatores. The Grallatores are com- 
monly called Waders; but, as Carpenter says, they would 
be more appropriately named Stilt-walkers, the real mean- 
ing of the word Grallatores, for they are all remarkable 
for the length of their legs, while many of them can 
scarcely be said to be aquatic in their habits. Those 
which are most decidedly aquatic have their feet partial- 
ly webbed. This is probably to enable them to swim in 
case that they should get beyond their depth. Most of 
the birds of this order find their food in the water, which 
consists of fish, mollusks, aquatic worms and insects. 
Their legs are, accordingly, both long and naked, so that 
they may wade with facility, and their necks and bills are 
long, that they may reach their food. They are generally 
slender birds, and their wings are fitted for rapid flight. 
Their tails are short, and they therefore stretch out their 
long legs behind to act as a rudder, in place of the tails 
of other flying birds (§ 210). They are distributed wide- 
ly over the earth, and many of them make periodical mi- 
grations north and south. There are six families: Bus- 
tards, Plovers, Cranes, Herons, Snipes, and Rails. 
283. The Bustards are natives of the Eastern Conti- 
