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Order GRALLATOEES. The Wadincx Birds. 
This order is composed of several families of birds^ all 
more or less marked by the great length of their legs. The 
lower portion of the tibia is devoid of feathers^ and covered 
with scale-like plates^ closely resembling those of the tarsus. 
This structure enables the birds to wade into the water 
a considerable depth without wetting their feathers. It is 
most generally in the water that they procure their food^ 
which they seize with their neck and beak : these parts in 
length correspond much with the legs. 
The outer toe of their feet is generally united to the 
middle one by a short membrane^ which connects them at 
the base. The wings of the wading birds are generally 
long^ and support them well in flight; many of them^ es- 
pecially those which migrate^ can fly to very great distances. 
They generally stretch out their long legs behind them when 
flyings unlike most other birds^ which in flight have their 
legs doubled under their belly: their tails are generally 
shorty so that the long stretched-out legs help much to ba- 
lance the body during their passage through the air. 
