TOTANINJE. GLOTTIS. 
91 
tarsus compressed, scutellate before and behind ; toes four, 
the first very small and elevated ; the anterior of moderate 
length, slightly webbed at the base ; claws small, slightly 
arched, compressed, obtuse. Plumage very soft and blended, 
on the back and wings compact ; wings very long, pointed, 
with twenty-five quills ; the first primary longest, the rest 
rapidly decreasing ; secondaries incurved, some of the inner 
tapering and elongated ; tail short, a little rounded, of twelve 
feathers. 
These birds are of moderate or rather small size. They 
frequent the shores of the sea, lakes, rivers, and marshes ; 
feed upon worms, insects, Crustacea, and mollusca, run with 
great celerity, vibrate their body when standing, emit a loud, 
shrill, reiterated cry, and have a rapid, light, and rather 
buoyant flight. Their nest is a slight hollow ; the eggs 
four, very large, pyriform, and spotted. Some species of 
the genus are found in most parts of the world ; but in 
Britain only one occurs. 
196. Glottis Chloropus. Green-legged Long-shank. 
In winter the bill greenish-brown at the base, black toward 
the end, the feet greenish-grey ; the head, hind part and sides 
of the neck, greyish-white, streaked with brown ; the fore part 
of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, greyish-brown, the 
feathers edged with whitish ; the hind part of the back, fore 
part of the face, and all the lower parts, white, but with faint 
grey markings on the fore part of the sides, and on the lower 
wing-coverts ; tail white, barred with greyish-brown. In sum- 
mer, the fore-neck and breast marked with oblong black spots ; 
the fore part of the back and the scapulars black, the feathers 
margined with whitish. 
Male, 14J, 26, 7^? 2 t a, 
Generally dispersed in England and some of the southern 
parts of Scotland during winter, when it is seen in small 
flocks here and there along the shore, by the margins of rivers, 
and in marshy places. By the beginning of summer it has 
disappeared, unless in the north of Scotland and some of its 
islands, where a few breed. The nest is a shallow cavity, 
with some fragments of plants ; the eggs four, two inches 
long, an inch and three-eighths in breadth, pale yellowish- 
green, spotted with dark brown and light purplish-grey. 
It feeds on insects, worms, and other small animals, runs and 
