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 Ihidorhynchus, 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 Becurvirostra 

 have them partly webbed, as to some extent have Himantopus, 

 Totanus semipalmatus, and a few other forms, while in Fhalaropus 

 the metatarsus is much compressed, and the toes have lobed 

 margins. The hallux, normally set rather high, is frequently 

 aborted, as in Charadrius, Ibidorliynchus, Calidris, Cursorius and 

 Oedicnemus ; in the Thinocorythidae and Glareola 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; 

 Himantojms, 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, Lohiva- 

 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. 



