192 VERTEBRATA : AVES OR BIRDS. 



which is more or less sensitive even to its tip. In most 

 species the wings are long and pointed, the legs long and 

 slender, the toes comparatively short, the anterior toes in 

 many species semipalmate, and the hind one short and 

 elevated or wholly wanting. 



The Limicolse generally lay four eggs in a rude nest or 

 depression in the ground, and the young are covered with 

 a sort of down, and are able to run as soon as hatched. 



The Bustards, or Otididre, belong to the Eastern hemi- 

 sphere, and have a large body, similar to that of the 

 Gallina?, a long neck and legs somewhat like those of 

 the Ostriches, and toes similar to those of the Plovers. 

 The Great Bustard is the largest bird of Europe, being 

 four feet in length. 



. The Plovers (Fig. 223), or Charadriidse, have the bill 

 somewhat in the form of a pigeon's, a stout body, long 

 and pointed wings, and reticulate tarsi. Plovers vary 

 from six to twelve inches in length. 



The Oyster-catchers and the Turnstones (Fig. 224) or 

 Heematopodidae, have the bill acute in one genera, trun- 

 cate in another, and in all cases hard, and the legs short 

 and brightly colored. Those with a truncate bill pry 

 open the shells of bivalve mollusks to eat the animal; 

 those with an acute bill turn over pebbles in search of 

 food. The most common . species (Fig. 224) is about 

 eight inches long. 



The Stilts and Avocets, or Recurvirostridae (Fig. 227), 

 have extremely long legs, webbed or semipalmate feet, 

 and a long and slender bill which is either nearly straight, 

 or recurved. These birds are from thirteen to eighteen 

 inches in length. 



The Snipes, or Scolopacidse (Figs. 225-6), have the bill 

 extremely long, slender, grooved, and sensitive. Their 



