ADAPTATION OF STRUCTURE TO HABITS. 
237 
give to it a very fine sense of touch and convert it 
into a pair of the most exquisitely delicate tongs, with 
which the bird seeks for and obtains its food amid the 
mud and slime. 
Among the remaining marsh birds the Blackwinged 
Stilt always strikes me as being one of the most remark¬ 
able. It is comparatively the lightest of the whole 
assembly. Its little body, scarcely equal in size to that 
of the Turtle Dove, carries two long, pointed wings, while 
the head is furnished with a thin awl-shaped bill, like 
other members of the family; the body is supported on 
immensely long legs, the longest, perhaps, in comparison 
with the size of the trunk of any known bird, the Flamingo 
not excepted. This long-legged gentleman frequents the 
low flat shores of the sea and rivers, and is able by means 
of his extraordinary structure to wade in water a foot deep, 
even when the soil at the bottom is muddy, the lightness 
of his body rendering a solid resting-place unnecessary for 
his stilted legs. The feet of the Avocet and Flamingo 
are partially webbed; thus both these birds are able to 
wade in deeper water than the Stilt, and to walk on an 
exceptionably slimy bottom; in the latter case they sink 
even less in the mud than does the Stilt, owing to the 
surface presented by their semi-webbed feet, while in the 
former they can advance further into the water by 
swimming. 
The three above-mentioned birds lead us on to the 
true Natatores, whose equipment comes next under 
our notice. The well-known and majestic Swan will 
serve as the type of those birds whose aquatic movements 
are confined to swimming on the surface of the water. 
I need not long detain my readers with details concern¬ 
ing this class of swimmers. Every one is well acquainted 
