BREVIPENNES : OSTRICHES, ETC. 191 



are wholly concealed by the feathers of the body, and 

 appear to be useless even as an aid in running. Each 

 wing is terminated by a hooked claw. The bill of the 

 Apteryx is long and slender, and the nostrils are at its tip. 



Of the fossil forms of Brevipennes or Ostrich-like birds, 

 the Moa, Palapteryx, Notornis, and ./Epyornis may be 

 mentioned here. 



The Moa (Dinornis giganteus) of New Zealand was 

 much larger than any living ostrich, being twelve or 

 more feet in height. Its tibia was thirty-two inches 

 long ! And its eggs were so large that Mr. Walter Man- 

 tell, who first found them, states that his hat would just 

 serve as an egg-cup for one of them ! 



The ^Epyornis was found in Madagascar, and from its 

 bones it is estimated to have been twelve feet high. Its 

 egg, also found fossil, is thirteen and a half inches in its 

 longest diameter ! 



SUB-SECTION IX. 

 THE ORDER OF LIMICOL^E OR SHORE BIRDS. 



THIS order, and the two following ones, namety, Hero- 

 diones or Herons, and Alectorides or Rails, etc., constitute 

 the old group Grallatores. 



The name Limicolte comes from the Latin Urn us, slime 

 or mud, and eolere, to inhabit. Many of these birds fre- 

 quent muddy shores. 



This order, as here limited, includes the Bustards, the 

 Plovers, Turnstones, Stilts, Phalaropes, "Woodcocks, Snipe, 

 Sandpipers, Yellow-legs, Curlews, etc. 



The Limicolse have a slender bill, which, in most cases, 

 is mainly covered with a rather soft skin or membrane, and 



