CUAUADRID^. 633 



a long flight in a certain direction, capturing various insects .as 

 they fly. They live entirely on insects which they capture in 

 the air, in many cases coleoptera. Several vf^hich I examined had 

 partaken only of a species of Cicindela. 



I found tliera breeding at Thyetmyo in upper Burraah, with the 

 young just flown in May; and Mr, Brooks, Civil Engineer, Mirza- 

 pore, informs me that he found their nests in a large sandy churr 

 near Mirzapore. The parents endeavoured to entice him away 

 from their nests just like a Plover. The eggs are pale stone 

 colour, with numerous small reddish-brown and a few dull purplish 

 spots. 



Another species of this division is recorded from Africa, G. 

 cinerea, Fraser. 



G. grallaria, T., {G. Isabella, Y.,) from Australia, has enormously 

 long wings and a short even tail, and is separated as Stiltia, 

 Bonap. 



Fara. CHARADRiDiEj Plovers. 



Bill straight, stout, and moderately thick in some, slender in a 

 few, more or less raised and swollen at the tip ; nostrils placed in 

 a long groove ; wings moderately long, and pointed ; tail usually 

 short ; tarsi long, reticulated in most, or scutellate near the feet 

 only ; toes usually short, connected at the base by a membrane ; 

 hind toe minute or wanting. 



The gape in the Plovers is small ; the gizzard is large and 

 muscular ; and they have moderately long cosca. The fissure in 

 the sternum is very wide throughout. 



Plovers are more or less gregarious birds that feed on bare 

 plains, ploughed lands, moors and wilds, or wet meadow land ; a 

 few preferring the banks of rivers, sand-banks, or the edges of 

 tanks. They run quickly, feed almost entirely on insects and 

 worms, and the flight of most is easy or rapid. Many are migra- 

 tory, others appear to be resident in the warm and temperate 

 regions of the Old World. Their eggs are usually four in number, 

 generally of a stone-yellow or green colour, richly blotched. 

 Many are very noisy birds, and have a peculiar shrill or plaintive 

 PART 11. 4 L 



