370 AVES. 



only distinguished from them by the presence of a thumbj but it is 

 so small that it cannot reach the ground. 



Inthefirst tribe, that of the Lapwing-Plovers, (SquAXAROXA, Cuv.) 

 it is even scarcely visible. It is distinguished by the bill, which is 

 inflated underneath, and its nasal fossa being short like that of an 

 CEdicnemus. The feet are reticulated: all those of France have the 

 tail striped with white and black, forming, as is asserted, but one 

 species whose great diversity of plumage has occasioned its multi- 

 plication. It is always found with the Plovers. 



Tringa squatarola; Le Vanneau gris^ Enl. 854. (The Grey 

 Lapwing.) Greyish above, whitish with greyish spots beneath, 

 is the young bird before it has moulted. The Variegated Lap- 

 wings (^Tringa varia,) Enl. 923, white, spotted with greyish; 

 blackish mantle dotted with white, comprises the two sexes in 

 their winter plumage. The Vanneau Suisse, (^Tringa helvetica, 

 Enl. 853, Naum. Ed. I, 62, f. 117,) black and white spots above, 

 black beneath from the throat to the thighs, is the male in his 

 wedding livery. 



Vanellus, Cuv. 



The true Lapwings have a rather more decidedly marked thumb, 

 the tarsi scutellated, at least partially so, and the nasal fossse extend- 

 ing two-thirds the length of the beak. They are equally as industrious 

 in the pursuit of worms as the Plovers, procuring them in the same 

 manner. 



The European species, Tringa vanellus, L., is a pretty bird, 

 as large as a Pigeon, of a bronze-black, with a long and slender 

 crest. It arrives in France in the spring, lives in the fields and 

 meadows, builds there, and departs in autumn. The eggs are 

 considered a great delicacy. (1) 



Warm climates also have some species of this bird, whose 

 wings are armed with one or two spurs, and others which have 

 caruncles or wattles at the base of the beak: their tarsi are scu- 

 tellated. They are very noisy animals, screaming out at every 

 sound they hear. They live in the fields, and defend themselves 

 against birds of prey with much courage. (2) 



was Linnzus who applied it thus; but he placed many other birds in his genus 

 Tringa, besides the Lapwings, the Sandpipers, (Callbris, Cuv.,) especially. 



(ll Add the Vanneau d ^charpe [Vann. cincius], Less, and Garn. Voy. Duperr. 

 pi. xliii; Le V. d piedsjaunes i^Vann. Jlavipes), Savigny, Egypte, Ois., pi. 6, f. 3. 



(2) They are the first nine species of Parra, Gmel., particularly Parra cayen- 

 nensis, Enl. 836; P. goensis, Enl. 807; P.senegalla, Enl. 362, or better Vanellus 

 albimpillus, Vieill., Gal. 236; P. ludoviciana, Enl. 835, from which Vann. galli- 

 naoeua, Tern., does not perhaps specifically differ, &.c. ; their habits, legs, beak, 



