Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 4 (1798).djvu/301

 that, when disturbed, its flight is very short, like that of a grasshopper; and that it no sooner alights than it runs with such great agility that many who have been confident of their having covered birds with their hats, have, to their great surprise, seen them again take wing at no great distance: so that they are always difficult to catch. I have, however, to observe, that the colour of the bird, and the length of its legs, must greatly contribute to its so easily escaping the vigilance of those who pursue it. I am also induced, from the circumstance of its bill being well surrounded with bristles, to think that its food is small flies, and other insects which it catches amongst the roots of the grass and rushes.

The length of the bird, from the point of the bill to the end of the rump, is three inches; the bill is three-eighths of an inch long, of a brownish black colour, considerably curved at the point, having the base furnished with strong bristles, and nostrils large and low down; irides uncertain; head much flattened and narrow towards the base of the bill, with a pale azure bar from the base of the bill over the eye; throat, to the centre of the neck, on each side, azure; front part of the head, cheeks, breast, fore part of the shoulders, thighs, sides and rump, ferruginous; centre part of the belly nearly white; hind part of the head, neck, shoulders, back and rump, greyish brown, elegantly streaked with brownish black; feathers of the back and rump, long, soft, and of a silky texture; wings very short, scarcely reaching to the base of the tail, of a dark brownish black colour, edged with rufous brown; legs slender, three-fourths of an inch long, of a pale dun or horn colour; feet slender and long; claws crooked and very sharp, especially the hind one, which is the largest, all of the same colour with the legs; the tail, independent of the body, is four inches and more in length, shafts black and very slender, armed on each side with minute slender