Shim F.I. ni' : ( )sik()i,()(;v oi-- ini: I.imrol.'E. 69 



and laiiKllirorni. It may he ])ointc(l anteriorl}', or bifurcated (Avocx'ts 

 and JLciiiatopiis) or rounded, as in some of the Jacaniihe. 



6. The ma\illo-])alatines arc usually ])late-like, concavo-convex 

 scrolls, ol'ten nearly absorbed b\- perforalinL; foramina. In Ilwinatof^us 

 they are flat and thicker, and fuse with the palatines. 



7. Basi-i)teryt;oid j^rocesses are always present and functional. 



8. The interorbital se])tum always shows a central perforation of 

 greater or less size. This is least noticeable in Macrorhamphiis. 



9. The angle of the mandible may be either a sharp, recurved 

 process or it may be lamelliform as in Ilcj'niatopus. It may have its 

 articular ends bent downwards as in the Woodcocks and Gallinago. 



10. The sternum may have two ])airs of xiphoidal notches (Plovers 

 and others); or a single i)air {Actifis, Rhyacophiliis, Jacanas, AV'ood- 

 cocks and Gallinago). Its manubrium is never large, and the keel 

 is deep. Os fiircula is of the U-shaped pattern, and its hypocleidium 

 small or nearly aborted. 



11. Hallux usually much reduced in size, except in Jacanidcp, or 

 may be entirely absent. 



12. The phalanges of the anterior toes diminish in length from the 

 basal to the ])enultimate. 



On thf, ArFiNiTiES of the Limicol.e. 



Regarding this suborder as a whole, and selecting any genus of 

 Plovers to represent its center, then by the aid of osteological charac- 

 ters alone, it is not a difticult matter to trace from them, through cer- 

 tain forms, to the Laridce and their kin. On another line, and 

 passing the Sandpipers, Willets, Godwits and Curlews in re\iew, we 

 find them also related to the Ibises and their relatives. Or from the 

 Willets, through the Avocets and Stilts, they seem to lead to Eurypyga, 

 and through such tringine forms as Rhyacophiliis and Actitis, related 

 as they are to X\\& /acanidcs, they^ lead to the Rallidce of the suborder 

 Fl'Mc.ari.-e. Finally, W. Kitchen Parker has .shown that through 

 Hcematopiis and Chio/iis, their affinity with the Tiibiiiarcs can be 

 demonstrated. 



In some respects the Limicolce rank lower than the herodine and 

 ralline types, while in other particulars they are undoubtedly higher. 



Regarding the forms we have dealt with in the present chapter, and 

 again selecting the Plovers as the center of the group, we find that 

 through Aphriza virgata of the famil\- AphrizidcB the}' are linked 



