INTRODUCTION. Xvii 



trils beneath a soft, tumid valve. Tomia of the mandibles mutually apposed. 

 Frontal feathers sweeping in strongly convex outline across base of upper 

 mandible. Legs feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux incumbent (with 

 few exceptions), and front toes rarely webbed at base. Tarsus with small 

 scutella in front, or oftener reticulate, the envelope rather membranous 

 than corneous. Head very small. Plumage without after-shafts. One pair 

 of syringeal muscles. Sternum doubly notched, or notched and fenestrate 

 on each side. Carotids double. Palate schizognathous. Monogamous, 

 and highly altricial and psiloptedic. 



F. GALLIN.3j. Bill generally short, stout, convex, with an obtuse 

 vaulted tip, corneous except in the nasal fossa, and without constriction in 

 its continuity. Nostrils scaled or feathered. Tomia of upper mandible over- 

 lapping. Frontal feathers forming re-entrant outline at the base of upper 

 mandible. Legs usually feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux ele- 

 vated, with few exceptions (e. g. Cracidce and Megapodidce), smaller than the 

 anterior toes, occasionally wanting (as in the Hemipods). Tarsus, when not 

 feathered, generally broadly scutellate. Front toes commonly webbed at 

 base. Claws blunt, little curved. Wings strong, short, and concavo-convex. 

 Rectrices commonly more than twelve. Head small. Plumage usually 

 after-shafted. Carotids double (except Turnicidce and Megapodidce). No 

 intrinsic syringeal muscles. Sternum very deeply, generally doubly, notched. 

 Palate schizognathous. Chiefly polygamous. Prsecocial and ptilopaidic. 

 C LIMICOL^. Tibife bare of feathers for a variable (sometimes very 

 slight) distance above the suflfrago. Legs commonly lengthened, some- 

 times excessively so, and neck usually produced in corresponding ratio. 

 Tarsi scutellate or reticulate. Toes never coherent at base ; cleft, or united 

 for a short distance by one or two small movable basal webs (palmate only 

 in Eecurvirostra, lobate only in Phalaropodidce). Hallux always reduced, 

 obviously elevated and free, or wanting ; giving a foot of cursorial char- 

 acter. Wings, with few exceptions, lengthened, pointed, and flat; the inner 

 primaries and outer secondaries very short, forming a strong re-entrance on 

 the posterior border of the wing. Tail shorter than the wing, of simple 

 form, and of few feathers, except in certain Snipes. Head globose, sloping 

 rapidly down to the contracted base of the bill, completely feathered (except 

 Philomachus $). Grape of bill short and constricted; tip usually obtuse; • 

 bill weak and flexible. Rostrum commonly lengthened, and more or less 

 terete and slender ; membranous wholly or in great part, Avithout hard cut- 

 ting edges. Nostrils narrow, placed low down, entirely surrounded with 

 soft skin ; nasal fossse extensive. Palate schizognathous. Sternum usually 

 doubly, sometimes singly, notched. . Carotids double. Pterylosis of a par- 

 ticular pattern. Nature prtecocial and ptilopjedic. Comprising the " Plover- 

 Snipe " group ; species of medium and small size, with never extremely 

 compressed or depressed body ; more or less aquatic, living on plains and 

 in open places, usually near water, nesting on the ground, where the young 

 run freely at birth. 



H. HERODIONES. Tibite naked below. Legs and neck much length- 

 ened in corresponding ratio. Toes long, slender, never coherent at base, 

 where cleft, or with movable basal webbing. Hallux (as compared with 

 that of the preceding and following group) lengthened, free, and either 

 perfectly incumbent or but little elevated, with a large claw, giving a foot of 

 insessorial character. Wings commonly obtuse, but broad and ample, with- 

 out marked re-entrance on posterior border, the intermediate remiges not 



VOL. I. c 



