_Bessy Kick-up._—_River-pink._ (Rob. MSS.)
_Seiurus Noveboracensis._
_Motacilla Noveboracensis_, +Gm.+—Aud. pl. 426.
_Turdus aquaticus_, +Wils.+
_Seiurus Noveboracensis_, +Sw.+
[33] Length 5¹⁄₂ inches, expanse 9⁴⁄₁₀, flexure 3, tail 2, rictus
⁷⁄₁₀, tarsus ⁹⁄₁₀, middle toe ¹³⁄₂₀.
I first saw this amusing species about the end of August, around
the muddy margins of ponds in St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland; and
immediately afterward they became so abundant, that individuals were to
be seen running here and there on the road, all the way from Bluefields
to Savanna-le-Mar, especially along the sea-shore, and by the edges
of morasses; not at all associating, however. They run rapidly; often
wade up to the heel in the water, or run along the twigs of a fallen
tree at the brink, now and then flying up into the pimento and orange
trees. When walking or standing, the tail is continually flirted up
in the manner of the Wagtails, whence the local name of _Kick-up_,
though, perhaps, none but a negro would consider a motion of the tail,
_kicking_. The resemblance of this bird to the Wagtail, Wilson has
noticed, and it is very striking in many respects. It walks among the
low grass of pastures, picking here and there, wagging the tail, and
uttering a sharp _chip_. Now and then it runs briskly, and snatches
something, probably a winged insect, from the grass. Wilson praises its
song very highly; in its winter residence with us it merely _chips_
monotonously. The stomachs of several that I have dissected contained
water-insects in fragments, and one or two small pond shells.
There is a remarkable analogy in the Water Thrushes to the Snipes and
Plovers, in their habits of running by the side of water, of wading,
and of flirting up the hinder parts; in the height of the tarsi; and
in the elongation of the tertials. The Pea-Dove, which frequents water
more than any other of our Doves, has longer tertials than any. Is
there any connexion between the lengthening of these feathers, and
aquatic habits?