98 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 
down the shafts; a faint subapical spot begins to show on the outermost 
primary; the tail-coverts are paggily white, and the dark portion of the 
rectrices is much broken up; under parts nearly white. In the fourth 
autumn the subapical patch on first primary is larger, and the quills 
from the fifth upward are banded with black and tipped with white; 
tail-feathers white, slightly vermiculated with brown; bill greenish yellow 
basally, reddish black at the angle. At the molt of the fifth autumn all 
brown markings are lost, the primaries have white tips, black bars, and 
gray wedges, though the proportion of dark coloring in quills is greater 
than it is in older birds. (Compiled from Saunders.) 
The only notice of the occurrence of the Vega gull in the Philippine 
Islands, appears to be the record by Hartlaub. 
Order CHARADRIIFORMES. 
SHORE-BIRDS AND WADERS. 
Wings long, flat, and pointed, with narrow, rapidly graduated pri- 
maries; inner secondaries long; tail usually quite short; rarely forked 
(Glareola) or greatly elongated (Parride); legs generally long and 
slender, sometimes extremely so; toes short except in Parride, either 
semipalmate or cleft to the base; lobate in Phalaropodine ; bill slender, 
compressed, and covered with soft skin, rarely hard throughout (Are- 
naria). Members of this order live on the ground in open places, usually 
near water and many of the species assemble in flocks during the winter 
months. Eggs three or four, highly colored and much spotted, usually 
pyriform. The nest, with rare exceptions, is a slight hollow in the 
ground. The young are downy and able to run within a few hours after 
leaving the egg. This order includes the sandpipers, plovers, snipes, 
curlews, and their allies.* 
Suborders. 
a‘, Tail nearly square, never forked; toes and claws not greatly lengthened. 
bt. Smaller, wing less than 230 mm.; bill small and short or greatly lengthened 
IIb IMeV eR WEA VY, ce2tc.. sees pests csceee aes sear eet aes eet Charadrii (p. 99) 
b?. Larger; wing more than 250 mm.; bill moderate in length but powerful; 
tarsus covered with hexagonal scales................----...-----+ Gdicnemi (p. 154) 
a*, Tail forked, or else the claws very long. 
bt. Tail forked; gape deeply cleft; claws normal in length........ Cursorii (p. 152) 
b?. Tail not forked, but with two or more lengthened feathers; gape normal; 
claws extremely long and slender; a sharp spur at bend of wing. ; 
Parre (p. 150) 
* While I have examined specimens of nearly all the species in this order which 
are known to occur in the Philippine Islands the material available to me is 
unsatisfactory as a basis for specific descriptions. This is due to the fact that 
most of the species under consideration are migrants and can be taken in the 
Philippines in non-br eeding plumage only. Rather than present descriptions based 
upon inadequate material I have included here numerous quotations from Sharpe’s 
monograph of the Limicole (Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, volume 24) 
and from other standard works. 
