ORNITHOLOGY. 



625 



Gralla. 

 tores. 



In the genus Totanus, Cuv., the bill is slender, round, 

 pointed, firm, the upper mandible slightly arched, with the 

 nasal groove not extending above. half its length. The 

 form is light and active, the legs rather long, the toes 

 webbed at the base, more especially between the outer 

 and middle toe. In birds of this genus, as Mr Selby has 

 observed, the comparatively hard and sharp-pointed bill 

 indicates a corresponding change in habits and economy ; 

 so that instead of seeking their food by probing in the 

 sand or softer mud, they search for it along the pebbly 

 banks of lakes and rivers, or the ocean's gravelly shore. 

 Some reside habitually in inland districts, while others 

 prefer the sea-coast, or migrate thither during the autum- 

 nal season. The British species are the dusky sandpiper, 

 T. fuscus, Leisler ; the redshank, T. calidris, Bechst. ; the 

 green sandpiper, T. ochropus, Temm. ; the wood sandpiper, 

 T. glareola, Temm. ; the common sandpiper, T. hypokucos, 

 Temm. ; and the greenshank, T. glottis, Bechst. Besides 

 which, the spotted sandpiper, T. macularia (a very com- 

 mon species in North America), &c. are of occasional oc- 

 currence. Regarding the last-named species, Mr Bartram 

 informed Alexander Wilson, that he saw one of these birds 

 defend her young for a considerable time from the repeat- 

 ed attacks of a ground squirrel. The scene of action was 

 on the river shore. The parent had thrown herself) with 

 her two young behind her, between them and the land ; 

 and at every attempt of the squirrel to seize them by a 

 circuitous sweep, she raised both her wings in an almost 

 perpendicular position, assuming the most alarming aspect 

 possible, and rushing forwards on the squirrel, which for a 

 time drew back intimidated ; but soon returning, was met 

 as before by the affectionate but infuriated bird, her wings 

 and whole plumage bristling up to twice their natural size. 

 This interesting, but, for one of the parties, fearful play, 

 continued for about ten minutes, when the strength of the 

 bird began to flag, and the attacks of the quadruped be- 

 came more audacious, on which Mr Bartram interfered, 

 " like one of those celestial agents," says Wilson, " who in 

 Homer's time so often decided the palm of victory" ! The 

 green-shank ( T. glottis), though usually regarded as mere- 

 ly a passenger in spring and autumn, is now known to breed 

 in Scotland. It inhabits the northern parts of both conti- 

 nents, but is rarer in the new world than the old. Mr Au- 

 dubon traced it as far south as the Tortugas, near the ex- 

 tremity of East Florida, and Latham received it from Ja- 

 maica. It also occurs in Bengal. Our common red-shank 

 (T. calidris) is found occasionally in North America. A 

 large species well known in the western world by the name 

 oiwillet, and characterized by all the anterior toes being 

 conspicuously webbed at the base, forms M. Bonaparte's 

 genus Catoptrophorus. This bird not only wades, but 

 swims. It is the semi-palmated snipe (Scol. semi-palma- 

 tas) of the older systems. 



The genus Lobipes of Cuvier combines the bill of the 

 preceding genus {Totanus) with the lobated toes of Pha- 

 laropus. We may mention as an example the red-necked 

 phalarope, — Tringa hyperborea, Linn. (Lob. hyperborea, 

 Cuv.), a species not uncommon among our northern islands, 

 where it swims with great ease, — resembling when in the 

 water a beautiful miniature representation of a duck. It like- 

 wise breeds all along the forlorn shores of arctic America, 

 resorting to Hudson's Bay in autumn. Another species 

 (L. Wilsonii) seems confined to the new world, where it 

 breeds on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and occurs at 

 least as far south as Mexico. It does not advance to so 

 high a northern latitude as the hyperborean species, being 

 as yet unknown beyond the fifty-fifth parallel. It forms 

 an artless nest within the shelter of some grassy tuft, lay- 

 ing two or three pear-shaped eggs, of a tint between yel- 

 lowish gray and cream colour, interspersed with small 

 roundish spots, and a few larger blotches of umber-brown 



towards the obtufer end. It can only be regarded as a Gralla- 

 straggler in the United States. This bird forms the sub- tores - 

 genus Holopodius of Bonaparte, the basal web between <'"""" 

 the inner and middle toe being less than in the preceding 

 species. The synonyms of both are still somewhat con- 

 fused. 



The genus Himantopus, Brisson, has the bill round, 

 slender, pointed, the nasal furrow extending only half its 

 length. But the principal and most peculiar character 

 consists in the enormous length of the leg and tarsus, from 

 which the species have derived the title of stilts, or long- 

 legged plovers. The toes are united by a basal web, larger 

 on the outer than the inner portion of the foot. These birds 

 have a greater predilection for the borders of the sea, and 

 for brackish lakes, than for the banks of rivers or pure 

 fresh-water lakes. Their movements are rapid on the 

 wing, but their gait is somewhat staggering, from the dis- 

 proportionate length of their legs. The kind which occurs 

 in Europe (Him. melanopterus, Meyer), called the black- 

 winged stilt, has been known to breed in France, and ac- 

 cidentally visits England, but its chief resorts are the great 

 salt marshes of Hungary and Russia. It is often seen in 

 Italy in little flocks in spring, travelling northwards. It 

 likewise occurs in Asia, Africa, and America ; but the spe- 

 cies of the new world, described by Wilson, is the Him. ni- 

 gricollis of Vieillot. We shall here quote his account of its 

 manners and mode of nidification, as the history of the Eu- 

 ropean stilt, in these particulars, is scarcely known. " This 

 species arrives on the sea-coast of New Jersey about the 

 25th of April, in small detached flocks of twenty or thirty 

 together. These sometimes again subdivide into lesser 

 parties ; but it rarely happens that a pair is found soli- 

 tary, as during the breeding season they usually associate 

 in small companies. On their first arrival, and indeed dur- 

 ing the whole of their residence, they inhabit those parti- 

 cular parts of the salt marshes pretty high up towards the 

 land, that are broken into numerous shallow pools, but are 

 not usually overflowed by the tides during the summer. 

 These pools or ponds are generally so shallow that with 

 their long legs the avocets can easily wade them in every 

 direction ; and as they abound in minute shell-fish, and 

 multitudes of aquatic insects and their larvae, besides the 

 eggs and spawn of others deposited in the soft mud below, 

 these birds find here an abundant supply of food, and are 

 almost continually seen wading about in such places, often 

 up to the breast in water. 



" In the vicinity of these bald places, as they are called, 

 fifty yards off, among the thick tufts of grass, one of these 

 small associations, consisting perhaps of six or eight pair, 

 takes up its residence during the breeding season. About 

 the first week in May they begin to construct their nests, 

 which are at first slightly formed of a small quantity of old 

 grass, scarcely sufficient to keep the eggs from the wet 

 marsh. As they lay and sit, however, either dreading the 

 rise of the tides, or from some other purpose, the nest is 

 increased in height with dry twigs of a shrub very com- 

 mon in the marshes, roots of the salt grass, sea-weed, and 

 various other substances, the whole weighing between two 

 and three pounds. This habit of adding materials to the 

 nest after the female begins sitting, is common to almost 

 all other birds that breed in the marshes. The eggs are 

 four in number, of a dark yellowish clay colour, thickly- 

 marked with large blotches of black. These nests are 

 often placed within fifteen or twenty yards of each other; 

 but the greatest harmony seems to prevail among the pro- 

 prietors. While the females are sitting, the males are 

 either wading through the ponds or roaming over the ad- 

 joining marshes ; but should a person make his appear- 

 ance, the whole collect together in the air, flying with 

 their long legs extended behind them, keeping up a con- 

 tinual yelping note of click, click, click. Their flight is 



