PLOVERS. 49 
Order XII]. CHARADRITFORMES.  Ptover-rrise. 
The birds included in this Order present great variety im size, shape, 
and coloration, and it is interesting to notice that these differences are 
generally traceable to peculiar methods of feeding. Though a few 
species frequent arid plains, they are essentially birds of the fen and of 
the sea-shore, or haunt the banks of streams and desolate marshes, feeding 
on worms, small shell-fish, and crustacea. For the capture of these the 
beak and legs have become modified in many ways. A considerable 
number of species exhibit conspicuous changes in the coloration of the 
plumage, adopting a distinct summer and winter dress ; others undergo 
but little seasonal change. The richly coloured eggs do not ordinarily 
exceed four in number, and are deposited in a slight hollow in the 
ground with little or no preparation in the form of a nest. The young 
are quite active when hatched and clothed in a thick covering of 
beautifully patterned down, the colour of which is more or less deter- 
mined by the surroundings amid which they are hatched. 
Family I. Dromapipm. CRraB-PLOveRs. 
On the floor of this Case, onthe right-hand side, we find the sole 
representative of this very aberrant and remarkable family, which 
inhabits the coast-land and sandy islands of India, Arabia and East 
Africa. The nesting habits ditfer entirely from those of every other 
member of this order, for the Crab-plover (Dromas ardeola) (463) 
breeds in deep burrows excavated in the saud-hills and lays a single 
large white egg. The young are covered with greyish down and, like 
young petrels, remain in the burrows during the day. 
Family Il. Catonrpip®. SHEATHBILLS. 
The Sheathbills, of which three species are known, form another very 
aberrant family, inhabiting the islands adjacent to the southern ex- 
tremity of South America and in the South Atlantic Ocean. The base 
of the bill is covered with a saddle-shaped horny sheath, the cheeks are 
naked, covered with wattles in Chionis alba (464), and the wings are 
armed with spurs. The habits of the Lesser Sheathbill (Chionarchus 
minor) (465) are described as resembling in some respects those of 
Pigeons, while in their gait and flight they closely resemble Ptarmigan. 
The rough nest of dried plant-stems is made in an hollow among the 
rocks or occasionally in a Petrel’s burrow, and contains two or three 
eggs thickly spotted and mottled with purplish-red. 
E 
[Cases _ 
27-30.] 
[Case 27.] 
[Case 27. | 
