GRALLATORES, the Grallaa of Linnaeus, the wader order of birds, which some naturalists arrange as under :— . a. The young when hatehed able to run at once. 1. Tribe Struthiones, comprising the ostriches, emus. 2, Tribo Pressirostres, bustards, plovers, cranes.
3. Tribe Longirostresi snipes and sandpipers.
4. Tribe Latitores, rails and water-hens. b. With the young helpless when hatched.
5. Tribe Cultirostres, storks, herons, and ibises.
31any of these are migratory, and come mutually into India across the Himalaya. 3fr. Hodgson says the grallatorial and natatorial birds begin to arrive in Nepal from the north towards the close of August, and continue amiving till the middle of September. The first to appear are the coinmon snipe, the jack snipe, and Rhyncluea ; next, the scolopaccous waders (except the woodcock); next, the great birds of the heron and stork and crane families ; then the Natatores ; and lastly the woodcocks, which do not mach Nepal till November. The time of the re-appearance of these birds from the south is the beginning of 3farch, and they go on arriring till the middle of 3fay. The first which thus rettuu to Nepal are the snipes ; then come the teal and duck, then the large Natatores, and lastly the great cranes and stork.s. The Grallatores which visit Nepal or
pass over it are much more numerous than the Natatores. The wild swan was onoe seen in Nepal in the mid-winter of 1828.
' None of the Ntttatores stay in Nepal beyond a week or two in autumn (when the rice-fields tempt them), or beyond a few days in spring, except the teal, the widgeon, and the coot, which remain for the whole season upon some few tanks whose sanctity precludes all molestation of them. There are cormorants throughout the season upon the larger rivers within the mountains, but none ever halt in the valley beyond a day or two. For so long, however, both they and pelicans may be seen occasionally on the banks.
The larus and sterna are birds which usually affect the high seas ; but Mr. Hodgson had killed both the red-legged gull and a genuine pelagic tern in the valley of Nepal. But so had lie fishing eagles ; and in truth, lie adds, who shall limit the wanderings of these long-winged birds of the ethereal expanse? See Birds ; Migration.