AVES. 411 



pressed, somewhat tumid behind the nostrils. Feet elongate ; toes 

 somewhat short, almost always connected at the base by membrane ; 

 hallux in some resting on the point only, in many none. 



Dromas Paykull. Bill elongate, strong, compressed, with 

 culmen curved towards the tip. Nostrils oval, lateral, pervious. 

 Neck short. Feet tetradactylous, semipalmate; with hallux resting 

 on the point. Tarsi covered anteriorly with large, transverse 

 scutella. Wings pointed, with first quill longest of all. 



Sp. Dromas ardeola Patk., Erodia amphilensis Stanley in Salt Voyage to 

 Ahyssinia, London, 1814, Appendix iv. p. Ixii. PL opposite to it, Ddpont 

 Ann. des So. nat. ix. pp. 184 — 187, PI. 45 ^male), Temm. PL col. 362 

 (fern.), Cuv. E. Ani., ed. ill., Ois. PI. 77, fig. 2 ; of the size of the Avocet, 

 ■white, back, flag- feathers and bill black; this bird lives in Arabia and 

 Bengal. This genus, which we place here provisionally, is usually arranged, 

 incorrectly as it seems to us, close by Ciconia. 



Hmmatopus L. Bill elongate, straight, compressed, with tip 

 cuneate, obtuse. Nostrils linear, placed in lateral groove near the 

 base of bill. Feet moderate, cursorial, with toes conjoined at the 

 base by membrane, that of the inner toe very short. Tarsi reticu- 

 late. Wings long, with first quill longest of all. 



Sp. Hcematopus ostralegus L., Buff. PI. enl. 929, Lesson Oi-nith. PI. 95, 

 fig. 2, Nadm. Taf. 181 ; the pied oyster-catcher ; black, with a white bar 

 on the wings, belly and base of the tail white, bill and legs red. Numerous 

 in the summer on our coasts, where it makes its nest on the bare ground 

 above high-water mark. — Hcematopus paUiatus Temm., Guer. Iconogr., 

 Ois. PI. 50, fig. 2, from America, &c. 



CMonis FoRST.\ Vaginalis Lath. Bill shorter than head, 

 somewhat thick, subconical, compressed, surrounded at the base by 

 a horny sheath. Nostrils placed in middle of bill, at the margin of 

 the horny sheath. Feet moderate, with tibiae feathered nearly to 

 the joint, with tarsi reticulately scaly. Outer toes conjoined at the 

 base by membrane; hallux raised, insistent at the point. Wings 

 moderate, tuberculate, with first and second quills subequal, longest 

 of all. 



Sp. Chionis alba Forst., Latham Synops. in. PI. 80, Fretcinet Voy. aut. 



du monde, Zool. vi. PI. 35, Temm. PI. col. 509, Less. Ornith. PI. 109, 



fig. 2, in New Holland; — Chionis minor Hartl., Gray Gen. of Birds, PI. 



cxxxvi. This genus is by some writers placed amongst the gallinaceous 



birds. 



^ J. R. Forster, Enchiridion historice naturali inserviens. Halse, 178S, 8vo, p. 37. 



