The MARSH-WADERS (_Paludicolæ_) comprise so great a variety of species as to render a general description of their characteristics extremely difficult. In these birds the body is powerful, the neck of moderate size, the head small, the beak round and straight, the legs long, and the feet furnished with four toes; the wings are of medium length, and the tail short. The thick plumage varies strikingly in its hues in old and young birds, and but little in the sexes. Most of the members of this group occupy moist or boggy localities, and pass their lives upon the ground, while some few frequent the branches of trees. Insects, small animals of various kinds, combined with vegetable diet, afford them the means of subsistence. The eggs are deposited in a nest, and have a spotted shell. * * * * * The CRANES (_Grues_) constitute by far the largest, best formed, and most intelligent division of the above birds, and are characterised by their almost conical body, long thin neck, small, beautifully-shaped head, and sharp, moderately strong beak, which is straight and slightly compressed at its sides and blunt at the culmen, about as long as the head, soft at its base, and hard at the tip. The long powerful legs are bare, and the feet are furnished with four toes; of these the hinder toe is so small as not to touch the ground; the exterior and centre toes are connected by skin as far as the first joints; the claws are short, blunt, and flatly curved, the wings large and broad, with the third quill longer than the rest and the upper secondaries much prolonged; the short tail is usually rounded, and the thick plumage composed of small feathers; in some species the head and neck are bare, in others adorned with beautiful plumes. The sexes are similar in their coloration, but differ much in size; the young resemble the adult bird after the first moulting, but only attain the flowing crest at a later period. [Illustration: THE SUN BITTERN, OR PEACOCK HERON (_Eurypyga helias_). ONE-FOURTH NATURAL SIZE.]