Vv CHARADRIIFORMES 269 
deeply split, making a wide gape; in Dromas it is hard, deep, and 
compressed ; in Cursorius thick and little bent ; in the Thinocory- 
thidae Fowl-like ; in the Oedicnemidae short, stout, and blunt; in 
the Parridae narrow and pointed, with a skinny frontal plate, and 
occasionally with rictal wattles. The nasal grooves are very long 
in Lhidorhynchus, Totanus, Scolopax and elsewhere. 
The tibia is often partly bare, and the metatarsus is ex- 
tremely variable; the legs are longer in Himantopus than in 
any other bird of its size, and long also in Recurvirostra, Cur- 
sorius, Dromas, the Parridae, and so forth, while Haematopus, 
Aegialitis, Scolopax, Glareola, Chionis, Tringa, and the Thinocory- 
thidae are instances of the contrary. Both the front and back 
of these members are scutellated in most Scolopacinae and Trin- 
ginae, but the Charadriinae differ considerably in this respect ; in 
Glareola the fore-part only is transversely scutellated, in Cursorius, 
Dromas, the Thinocorythidae and Parridae the whole of the surface, 
while in the Chionididae and Oedicnemidae both aspects are reticu- 
lated. The anterior toes are ordinarily free, or have the third and 
fourth digits slightly connected; but Dromas and Recurvirostra 
have them partly webbed, as to some extent have Himantopus, 
Totanus semipalmatus, and a few other forms, while in Phalaropus 
the metatarsus is much compressed, and the toes have lobed 
margins.: The hallux, normally set rather high, is frequently 
aborted, as in Charadrius, Ibidorhynchus, Calidris, Cursorius and 
Oedicnemus ; in the Thinocorythidae and Gilareola it is very 
small, in Dromas larger ; in the Parridae all four digits are on a 
level and abnormally long, as are the claws, so that the birds 
walk easily on floating vegetation. The nail of the mid-toe is 
pectinated in the Glareolidae, recalling that of the Caprimulginae 
(Night-jars). The digits are often somewhat fleshy, Oedicnemus 
moreover, has an enlarged tibio-tarsal joint. 
The wings are usually long, having a bilobed appearance owing 
to the equality of the inner secondaries and outer primaries; 
Himantopus, Dromas, Glareola, and the Thinocorythidae have them 
much elongated, Phegornis and some other forms very short, while 
in Vanellus the expanse is most noticeable. In this genus, Lobiva- 
nellus, Hoplopterus, the Chionididae, and the Parridae, is found a 
carpal spur, often large and sharp; Metopidius, and, apparently, 
Hydralector have the radius dilated into a sub-triangular lamina ° ; 
1 W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1881, pp. 646, 647. 
