PREFACE. 
iii 
The bills of one family (the Herons) are strong, sharp pointed, and 
of considerable length ; while the flexibility of the neck, the rapi- 
dity of its action, and remarkable acuteness of sight, wonderfully 
fit them for watching, striking and securing their prey. Those 
whose food consists of more feeble and sluggish insects, that lie 
concealed deeper in the mud, are provided with bills of still greater 
extension, the rounded extremity of which possesses such nice sen- 
sibility, as to enable its possessor to detect its prey the instant it 
comes in contact with it, tho altogether beyond the reach of sight. 
Other families of this same order, formed for traversing the 
sandy seabeach in search of small shell-fish that lurk just below 
the surface, have the bills and legs necessarily shorter ; but their 
wants requiring them to be continually on the verge of the flowing 
or retreating wave, the activity of their motions forms a striking 
contrast with the patient habits of the Heron tribe, who sometimes 
stand fixed and motionless, for hours together, by the margin of a 
pool or stream, watching to surprize their scaly prey. 
Some few again, whose favorite food lies at the soft oozy bot- 
toms of shallow pools, have the bill so extremely slender and de- 
licate, as to be altogether unfit for penetrating either the muddy 
shores, or sandy sea-beach ; tho excellently adapted for its own 
particular range, where lie the various kinds of food destined for 
their subsistence. Of this kind is the ^^voset of the present volume, 
who not only wades with great activity in considerably deep wa- 
ter; but having the feet half-webbed, combines in one the charac- 
ters of both wader and swimmer. 
