Porphyrio, one species of which, P. hyacinthinus, is very beautiful, and found in Southern Europe as well as parts of Africa and Asia.

Genus PALAMEDEA: Palamedea.-To this belongs the KAMICHI or HORNED SCREAMER, P. cornuta, larger than a grouse; the plumage greenish-brown above, with a reddish spot on the shoulder; two strong spurs on the edge of each wing, and a pointed, triangular flexible horn, about three inches long, on the top of the head. Another remarkable peculiarity is, that the skin is separated from the flesh by a considerable interval, occupied by a loose, cellular structure, which is filled with air, so that the skin crackles under the pressure of the hand. The same curious arrangement is found in some gannets and cormorants. This bird is common in Guiana and Brazil, where it lives in pairs, in marshy places, feeds on grains and aquatic herbs, and makes the air resound with its loud, wild cries. It is called Camouche in Guiana, and Anhima in Brazil. The CHAJA, Chauna chavaria, is a closely-allied species, thirty-two inches long, and has a clarionlike note, uttered by night and day, whenever it is excited by a noise. It is domesticated with other fowls by the natives of Paraguay and Colombia, where it is found.

This family includes several allied groups, as the Phalaropes, True Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, Tatlers, Avocets, &c.

THE PHALAROPES.

Genus PHALAROPUS: Phalaropus.-This contains the NORTHERN or GRAY PHALArope, -phalarope of the French-P. platyrhynchus or P. hyperboreus. The females are a little the largest; medium length eight inches; general color pearl-gray above, white beneath; feeds on thin-skinned crustaca and aquatic insects; eggs usually four. They procure their food principally upon the water, on which they alight like ducks, and float as light as gulls, and move about in search of food. The sight of a bank of floating sea-weed induces them to alight upon it, where

they walk about as much at their ease as on land. Their notes are weet, weet, tweet, uttered in a sharp, clear tone. In their spring and autumn migrations they assemble in flocks, and are often seen feeding on floating beds of sea-weed, a hundred miles from land. They breed in high northern latitudes of both continents during the summer, at which time they are seen in pairs. About August they move southward, and pay transient visits to the maritime parts of Europe, as well as to the Atlantic borders of the United States. They are said, also, to be found in California and Oregon.

Other species are the RED PHALAROPE, P. fulicarius, smaller than the preceding, resembling it, however, and distributed in the same countries; and WILSON'S PHALAROPE, P. Wilsoni, a beautiful species, ten inches long; irregular in its migrations, and rarely seen; distributed throughout temperate North America.

THE EUROPEAN WOODCOCK.

THE TRUE SNIPES. Genus SCOLOPAX: Scolopax.-The most noted species is the EUROPEAN WOODCOCK-Bécasse of the French, Beccaccia of the Italians, and Waldschnepfe of the Germans -S. rusticola. It is thirteen inches long; weight fifteen to twenty-seven ounces; females a little the largest; color various mixtures of brown; bill very long and straight; the eye large; the eggs three to four, yellowish-white, blotched and spotted with gray; habits nocturnal, reposing during the day, and seeking its food, consisting chiefly of earth

ing certainty into the mud, where its prey is hidden. It also devours snails, slugs, small beetles, &c. It migrates by night in March and April, to high northern regions, where it breeds, and returns in August. It is one of the most noted of game birds, and great quantities are killed in the countries where they make a short stay in their migrations. It is common throughout Europe; a few breed in Great Britain. The nest is loosely made of dead leaves in a dry, warm spot among herbage. The female is attentive to her young, and when surprised will often carry them off in her claws, one at a time, to a place of safety.

The AMERICAN WOODCOCK-S. minor of Bonaparte, Philohela minor of Gray-is but a trifle smaller than the preceding, which it greatly resembles in form and habits. It, however, does not proceed so far north for incubation. It appears in the Middle and New England States in March and April, and departs for countries south of the United States in October and November. It breeds from Maryland to the St. Lawrence. As in the preceding species, they are able to select their food by scent; they often feed in the night, and their eyes are set back in their head so as hardly to be used for the purpose of seeking the objects on which they feed. Their haunts are marshy thickets, where they turn over the fallen leaves and probe the mud, in pursuit of their prey. Whenever surprised in their hiding-places they rise in a hurried manner, but soon drop to the ground, then running along and lurking whenever they consider themselves safe. They are greatly esteemed as game, and are hunted with pointers or setters, and shot on the wing, They are common in the markets of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia from August to the 1st of November.

The COMMON EUROPEAN SNIPE or ENGLISH SNIPE-Bécassine of the French-S. gallinago, is ten and a half inches long, the beak two and three-quarters; dark-brown spotted above; sides and neck pale-brown; breast and belly white. They breed in fens and marshes, and are migratory, moving to the North in March and to the South in November. Many of them, however, remain and breed in intermediate stations, through the summer. During incubation the male bird is often heard uttering a piping call to his mate. He also frequently ascends in a circling flight to an immense elevation, sometimes beyond the reach of vision, and then descends with great velocity, uttering, at the same time, a kind of plaintive, whistling sound, which is accompanied by a trembling motion of the

THE COMMON EUROPEAN SNIPE

wings. This takes place morning and evening, and sometimes during the day. It is found in all Northern Europe, Iceland, and Greenland; in winter it migrates to Egypt and Asia Minor.

Other foreign species of Snipe are the GREAT SNIPE, DOUBLE SNIPE, or SOLITARY SNIPE, S. major; twelve inches long; a fine species; habits like the preceding; found sparingly in various parts of Europe, from Italy to Sweden; and the JACK-SNIPE, S. gallinula-Bécassine sourde of the French-eight inches long; solitary in its habits, and breeds as far north as Sweden, and visits the South of Europe in the winter. The GRAY SNIPE, BROWN SNIPE, OR RED-BREASTED SNIPE S. noveboracensis of De Kay, Macroramphus griseus of Bonaparte, Bécassine grise of the French-is ten to eleven inches long; upper surface variegated with different shades of chestnut

and black; beneath reddish chestnut barred with black. They move northward in April, and breed in the northern regions of this continent, amid the reedy and marshy borders of the great lakes, feeding on leeches, worms, insects, and small mollusca, which they extract from the mud with their long, dextrous bills. They move southward in July and August, now gathering along the sea-shore, and appearing in large flocks, performing their aerial evolutions over the marshes, sometimes uttering a short, rapid note, and sometimes a loud, querulous whistle. At this period

large numbers of them are killed in the Middle States, their flesh, like that of the other snipes, being of exquisite flavor. This species, which is known in some parts by the name of Dowitchee, Quail Snipe, and Brown Snipe, is distributed over the temperate parts of North America, and a few specimens are seen in Europe from Sweden to Great Britain.

The COMMON AMERICAN SNIPE-S. Wilsoni of De Kay, S. gallinago of Temminck, often called Wilson's Snipe, and also English Snipe, from the fact that it closely resembles the Euro

pean bird of that name-is eleven inches long; brown and reddish above; beneath white; feeds on worms, leeches, and aquatic insects; migrates northward in March and April, and returns in July and August; breeds from Virginia to 55° north. It has the same habit as the English Snipe, -which somewhat resembles the practice we have described as belonging to the Night-Hawk—of making wide and lofty sweeps in the air, and then swiftly descending with a wailing, hovering sound, often heard in the gray of the morning and evening, and when the birds are invisible, and therefore seeming to come from spirits of the sky. It is almost nocturnal in its habits, and conceals itself with assiduity in the rank grass and herbage of the marshes which it frequents. Like many other birds of this family, it may be decoyed, while in flight, by an imitation of its call. Some of them remain among us until the frost hardens the earth and compels them to depart. Another species, the Macroramphus scolopaceus, is found throughout the temperate parts of North America. SABINE'S SNIPE, S. Sabini, is a rare European species, little known.

This family consists of small birds resembling the snipes, but having longer legs. They live in the neighborhood of water, and some of them swim with facility. They are migratory, breeding high in the North, and proceeding usually in flocks to the South in autumn. They run and fly rapidly; feed on worms, insects, and mollusca, which they extract from the soft, oozy soil of marshes. There are many species in Europe and America.

Genus TRINGA: Tringa.-The CURLEW SANDPIPER, T. subarquata, is about eight inches long; chestnut and black above; breast and belly reddish-chestnut. It breeds in Northern Europe and Asia, as well as in North America; in winter it is found in Africa, from Barbary to the Cape, and in the United States, along the Atlantic coast to Florida. It is, however, always a rare species. The GRAY-BACK of the United States, called KNOT in England, T. canuta, is ten inches long; variegated above with black and brown, and beneath reddish-chestnut; abundant in Western Europe and Eastern North America. The BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, T. rufescens―Tryngites · rufescens of Baird-eight inches long; grayish-yellow above; beneath yellowish-red, spotted; found in Europe and North America. The BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, T. platyrhyncha, six and a half inches long; above varied with black, rufous, and gray; beneath grayish-white, tinged with buffish-red; rare, but distributed throughout Europe. The LITTLE STINT, T. minuta, is six inches long; gray above; under surface white, with a dusky band across the neck; found