290 



VERTEBBATBH. 



CHAPTER XII. 



DIVISION I.— VERTEBRATES. 



CLASS II. — BIRDS. 



WADERS AND SWIMMERS. 



ORDER VI. — WADERS. 



The Waders are distinguished by their very long and naked 

 legs, which permit them to wade to a considerable depth in the 

 water without wetting their feathers. The length of their neck 

 and beak corresponds to that of their legs, and they are conse- 

 quently able to search in the sand and mud at the bottom of the 

 water for their food, which consists of fishes, reptiles, and worms. 

 The Great Bustard, an English representative of the 

 Otidse, is now scarcely ever seen in England, although formerly it 

 was tolerably common. It runs with great swiftness, and will 

 never rise on the wing until forced, so that instances have been 

 known of bustards being captured by 

 greyhounds. It is exceedingly wary, 

 and can hardly be approached within 

 gun-shot, except by adopting some dis- 

 guise, as a laborer with the gun in his 

 wheelbarrow, or by driving a cart or a 

 carriage by the spot where it is feeding. 

 The male Bustard possesses a 

 membranous pouch on the fore part of 

 the neck, capable of holding six or 

 seven pints of water. There is an 

 opening to this pouch under the tongue, 

 and its use is possibly, like that of the 

 pelican, to carry water for the use of the young, but this is not 

 .ascertained. The length of the bird is rather more than three 



The Qrest Bustard. 



