84 



PLOVER GROUP 



„ , The curlew, which derives both its scientific names 



Curlew , .^ . ^ .1 /" 1 ' ' .u 



{Numemns. from the Greek neo vicnc, the new moon, 

 (Numenius ^ , ^ . . , . ,, - .... 



^ . and anjiiata, Latm for bow-shaped) Irom its sickle- 



arquata). , , , , . , ^ • r .i 



shaped beak, is the first representative oi the 



Totaninae, or third subfamily of the plover-tribe; this subfamily being 



taken to include the phalaropes, and characterised by the comparatively 



central position of the eyes on the sides of the head, and the possession 



of a distinct summer and winter plumage. With the exception of the 



phalaropes, the toes are unprovided with lateral flaps of skin, and in 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



the great majority of the group the three front ones arc connected at 

 the base by short webs. 'I^he curlew itself belongs to a genus with 

 some eight or nine species, ranging over the whole of the northern 

 hemisphere, many of which visit the opposite half of the globe in 

 winter. The long, slender, downwardly-curved beak, with the blunt 

 tip of its upper half overhanging the lower, and the nostrils lodged 

 in a very elongated groove, the long and pointed wings, of which the 

 first quill is the longest, the short and rounded tail, and the moderately 

 long, four-toed legs, in which all but the lower front portion of the 

 lower section (where the scales form transverse plates) is covered with 

 net-like scales, are some of the chief characteristics of the genus. 



