ORDER IV.-WADING BIRDS.

GRALLATORES.

"No more thy glassy brook reflects the day,
But, chok'd with sedges, works its weedy way;
Along thy glades, a solitary guest,

The hollow-sounding Bittern guards its nest:
Amidst thy desert walks the Lapwing flies,

And tires their echoes with unvary'd cries."-GOLDSMITH.

THERE are some birds whose legs are so long, that the body seems as if mounted on a pair of stilts; and this peculiarity is that which is expressed by the scientific name for the present order—a Latin word-literally meaning those who walk on stilts. The lower part of the leg is naked; and from this circumstance, as well as from its length, is especially adapted for wading. Hence, birds of the present order are called "Waders."

But, although this term is very correct, as applied to some, it is altogether incorrect with regard to others; thus, the Ostrich (Fig. 169), which lives remote from the sea, and from the banks of rivers, is included; and birds, which, like the Plover, are not remarkable for great length of leg, are also included. The fact is, that here, as in other great groups, the characteristics must be sought in some which may be looked upon as the representatives of the order, and not be required in every individual that naturalists may place in the same assemblage.

Cuvier arranges, in one family, all the birds of the present

with strong legs, claws suited for digging, and actually used in forming the excavations in which this singular bird lays her eggs and hatches her young.

known birds belonging to the present order. Its motionless attitude, as it watches for its prey in the shallow of the river or the sea, cannot fail to have attracted attention, adding, as it not unfrequently does, to the picturesque effect of the scene. Nor less striking is its appearance on the wing, the long outstretched legs acting as a counterpoise to the head and neck. It is a singular spectacle to behold these birds. collecting in spring at their build

ing stations, occupying like Rooks

The bird called the Common Bittern (Fig. 196) is no longer a common bird in these countries, and is every year becoming more rare, as waste lands are reclaimed. During the breeding season it utters a loud booming or bellowing noise, to which some of our poets have alluded. "But the Lark's shrill fife shall come

At the day-break from the fallow,
And the Bittern sound his drum,

Booming from the sedgy shallow."

Living remote from human haunts, on the marsh, the bog,

and the quagmire, it continues to this day the emblem of desolation and solitude, as it was at the time when the Prophet proclaimed against Babylon the awful denunciation: "I will also make it a possession for the Bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts."

The White Stork (Fig. 197) is another member of the

same family that must not be passed by without mention. Those who have travelled in Holland, and other parts of the continent, know the favourable light in which it is regarded, and the arrangements made for its accommodation and protection. The affection of the Stork for its young, is one of the most remarkable traits in its character; it is only needful

to refer to the female which, at the conflagration of Delft, after several unavailing attempts to remove her young, chose to remain and perish with them, rather than leave them to their fate. Among the ancient Egyptians, the Stork was regarded with reverence inferior only to that which was paid to the Sacred Ibis-another member of the present family.

The Ibis was at one time the object of a nation's worship, and its remains are still preserved as mummies in the Egyptian tombs. The Scarlet Ibis (Fig. 198), one of the most splendid of birds, is a native of the tropical regions of America.