106 



NATURAL iiisronr of birds. 



Wc mcntionpcl aliovo tliat tlio prcsi'iit family ri'scniMes the Charailriidae as to the 

 muscuhir arraugoinent, Imt wc should havi- iiiialificd tlie statonieiit in regard to the 

 muscles of the legs by saying that the myologit-al formula is reversed in the two fami- 

 lies, that is to say, that while in the plovers ABXY is the rule, and AXV the exeej)- 

 tion, so is among the sni]>es the latter comltination the usual one, wiiile only few have 

 all four muscles. Noticeable among the snipes liaving this more generalized muscular 

 arrangement are the curlews, a small grou]), the external characters of which are 

 alone sufficient to warrant us in assigning them a somewhat separate j)osition ; for the 

 NumeniinnB are characterized by a very long and strongly decurved bill, and by 

 having the tarsus entirely reticulate, or scutellate only for the lower half of the front. 



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y I ill Mjs:^- 



Flo. 50. — Xiimfttiits arqiiatiis, curlew. 



As an additional character may be (|U(itcd their conijiaratively short tongue. The 

 tarsus is totally reticulate in the Asiatic genus, Thiihirhii>irJ,<i, in which, besides, the 

 hind toe is absent, thus to a certain degree jtislifyiiig the saying that it is a sni]x> with 

 the bill of an ibis and the feet of a plover. Of this very remarkable form only 

 one s]iecies, the red-billed curlew (/! stnithnrsii), is known. It w.as originally obtained 

 in the Iliinmalehs, but recent explorations in central Asia have shown that it inhabits 

 sandy river banks from Pekin in the east to Turkestan, or ))erhapsthe Kirghis stepi>es 

 in the west. Its coloration is entirely different from that of the curlews of the genus 

 Nwnorhts, which are of a more or less rusty gray with dusky spots all over, while in 

 Ihidorhi/ncha the back is olive coloietl, the under side pure white, with t)ie top of 



