CHAPTER IV. 

 GRALLATORES, OR WADING BIRDS. 



The most striking characteristic of the Waders consists in the 

 nakedness and length of their tarsi, which sometimes attain to 

 really extraordinary dimensions : some of these birds look as 

 if they were mounted on stilts. This peculiarity of conforma- 

 tion is, however, well adapted to their modes of life. They 

 inhabit, for the most part, river-banks, lakes, and marshes, in 

 which they find their sustenance ; consequently, they are fear- 

 less of water and ooze. The Agami, the Bustard, and the Ostrich, 

 as well as the Emeu and other StruthionidcB, which are placed 

 by naturalists with this family, are not aquatic ; they inhabit the 

 interior of the country, and are either herbivorous or granivorous. 



The bills of these birds assume very various forms. They are 

 generally long ; but, according to the species, they may be thick 

 or slender, tapering or flat, blunt or pointed, strong or weak ; and 

 in some kinds, such as the Flamingo, the Spoonbill, and the 

 Boatbill, they really defy all description. The neck is always 

 slender, and in perfect harmony with the length of the legs. 



Almost all the Waders are birds powerful on the wing, and 

 twice a year most of them undertake long journeys, which they 

 perform in large flocks, like as do Ducks, Geese, and Swans. 

 There are, however, exceptions to this rule. Some of them 

 — the Bustard, for instance — move through the air with diffi- 

 culty, although their inferiority in this respect does not reach 

 to complete inabiKty ; others, as the Brevipennce, are absolutely 

 unable to fly at all : their wings being altogether rudimentary, 

 are only useful for accelerating their pace in running, and thus 

 assisted they are remarkably swift. 



