eye was small, as is indicated by the opening of the eyelids.

The general colour is a dull grayish brown, being darker above. Of the habits, food, and general modes of life of this singular bird, nothing is ascertained; in fact, no other example is known, nor has any one ever seen a living specimen, though traces of the bird have even recently been discovered in New Zealand. Perhaps, however, no living specimen now exists; certainly none will long exist. Unable to escape its foes or conceal itself from their attacks, it will soon be, if it is not already, exterminated by the savage tribes of the island, whence, as one of the last of its race, the specimen alluded to was brought; and the scientific of a future day will have only the figures and descriptions of the present era to warrant their belief that such a bird as the Apteryx Australis ever dwelt upon the earth.

Since writing the above, the Zoological Society has become possessed of a specimen (now making the second in Europe) through the exertions of A. Macleay, Esq. colonial secretary, New South Wales. In a letter accompanying this valuable acquisition to the stores of science, he states, that the individual, from which the skin was obtained, lived for nearly a fortnight in the possession of the Rev. W. Yates, of New Zealand. Its food consists of earth worms, and its mode of obtaining them is thus detailed: "It strikes with its bill on the ground, and seems to know by the sound where its prey lies. It then thrusts its bill into the ground, draws up the worm and swallows it whole and alive. They kick very hard, and their legs are remarkably strong for the size of the bird." Mr. Yates observes that it is very rare in the land, but that he will endeavour to procure others, an endeavour in which we trust he will be successful. A body sent to England in spirits would enable us to ascertain the true situation of the bird in nature, and its various affinities, which at present are very obscure.

We now enter upon our fifth order: it is

412

ORDER V.

GRALLATORES. VIG.

THE word Grallatores literally means stilt-walkers, and is very applicable to the assemblage of groups before us. Hence also the French term Les Echassiers, as adopted by Cuvier. The Wading Order is also another title given to the present general assemblage; but this, though applicable to the greatest number of subordinate groups, is not so to all; for, as in every other order, or natural section, so we find here also many species, nay several groups, which stand upon the border line between this order and the preceding.

The Grallatores not only possess points of peculiar importance to the scientific ornithologist, but are in many respects no less interesting to the general lover of nature. The place which this great group occupies is well worthy our consideration, as we obtain in it perhaps more than in any other, a glimpse of that plan which appears to prevail throughout animated nature; a plan which goes to supply the space intervening between any two prominent points with intervening links. The station then of the Grallatores is intermediate between the rasorial birds on the one hand, and the natatorial or swimming birds on the other. To say nothing of the Bustards, which are acknowledged by all to be on the border line, we may cite that singular bird the Goldenbreasted Trumpeter, of South America, (Psophia crepitans,) as uniting most pointedly the Grallatores to the ostriches, at one part of the chain, while at another the Grallatores as decidedly pass off into the true swimming order, through the Avocet, the Oyster-catcher, the Phalarope, and many others. The structure and general conformation of the great family of wading birds are such as fit them for the local situation to which they are

appointed, and have an equal relationship to the nature of their food. The woods and mountains and verdant plains are not their portion; neither, on the other hand, is the bosom of ocean, nor the surface of mighty lakes and rivers, where far away from shore so many revel in a congenial element; but theirs are the morass and the low oozy lands which border the sea, and its petty creeks and inlets. Here they find their food, which consists of the smaller fishes, mollusca, insects, and aquatic plants. Their legs are accordingly of great length, the thighs bare of feathers for a considerable distance above the joint, and the toes either long and spreading, or partially webbed; many, if necessity requires it, can swim, and some few swim and dive with great dexterity. In proportion to the length of their legs is that of the neck, or at least generally so, and where the neck does not bear a due relative proportion, its length is generally made up by that of the beak; but in many, as the stork and heron, we find both the beak and the neck equally elongated. To the heron in particular, which lives on fish, which it catches by darting its beak at them with the rapidity of an arrow, the utility of such a provision must be very apparent. In the structure of the beak the wading birds offer much variety, according to the particular nature of the food to be obtained. In many it is long, pointed, and powerful; in others it is broad and rounded; and again, in others soft and pulpy at the tip, which is supplied with numerous nerves, so that when inserted into the oozy mud in search of insects or seeds, it performs the office of a delicately sensitive feeler. Thus the heron, the spoonbill, the oyster-catcher, and the woodcock, afford examples by way of contrast, in each of which we find this organ so modified as to be consonant to the nature and habits of its possessor.

The order Grallatores is very extensive, and embraces a vast assemblage of subordinate groups, almost infinitely varied in minor details. Besides those on the border-line, it comprehends cranes, storks, herons, ibises, snipes, plovers, sandpipers, rails, gallinules, coots, and many more. The present delineation will, therefore, go no

farther than a general outline, illustrated by the most prominent and best examples, that the reader may form a clear idea of the main and distinguishing features of the whole.

The families will stand arranged as follows: 1, Bustards; 2, Plovers; 3, Cranes; 4, Herons; 5, Snipes; 6, Rails. Each family contains multitudinous subordinate sections or genera.

The Bustards are distinguished by the stout heavy contour of body, which we see so characteristic in the gallinaceous birds; their neck and limbs are moderately long, the beak is short, conical, and compressed. The toes are three before, short, and united at their base. The wings are moderate.

The localities frequented by these birds are wide open plains, more or less cultivated, where food abounds; this consists of grain, tender herbage, and insects. When in danger, they either squat down on the ground or run; but if closely followed, they take wing, and keep up a direct and rapid flight till out of reach. They are polygamous in their habits. The females prepare their nests and incubate alone, leaving the male at the commencement of the period for laying. The moult of these birds appears to take place twice a year, and the males not only exceed the females in size, but are distinguished by a more ornamental style of plumage; the young males resemble the females, and it is very probable that, in winter, the adult males lose many, if not all, of the distinguishing ornaments, and perhaps also the richer colouring which adorns them in summer.

Our European species of Bustards are very few, at most three, and of these only one has just claims to be ranked among British birds. It is, however, one of the most beautiful. The GREAT BUSTARD, (Otis tarda, LIN.) once common in our island, is now very rare, and is yearly becoming more so; indeed, except in some parts of the county of Norfolk, it cannot be sought for with probability of success. A few years since it was abun

dant upon Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire; but, as Montagu states, in consequence of the desire to obtain the eggs, and the bird itself, either young or old, this largest of our winged tenants had disappeared from its favourite haunts, so that for two or three years previous to 1813 not one was to be seen. The presence of a bird of such magnitude as the Bustard, the male of which weighs from

twenty-five to thirty pounds, cannot, in a thickly peopled country, fail to attract observation, and observation in such cases is seldom unaccompanied with active measures of destruction; hence this noble bird will, unless