XXIV SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT 



Order V. ORALLY. 



(WADERS. ) 



Leg and tarsus long, the lower portion of the former generally 

 destitute of feathers ; bill long or moderate ; toes three or four, 

 more or less connected by a membrane at the base, sometimes 

 lobated. 



Adapted by structure for feeding in marshes, on the muddy 

 or sandy sea-shore, or on the banks of lakes and rivers. Some, 

 which feed on fish, have unusually long legs and powerful bills ; 

 others, owing to their length of bill and legs, are able to search 

 muddy places for worms and insects, without clogging their feathers ; 

 and others, again, are decidedly aquatic, and have considerable swim- 

 ming powers, thus approaching the next order ; the majority have 

 great power of flight, and lay their eggs on the ground. 



Family I. CHARADRID.E. 



(PLOVERS.) 



Feet long and slender ; toes short, the hind one wanting, or rudi- 

 mentary ; wings long and pointed ; bill moderate. 



84. CURSORIUS (Courser). Bill shorter than the head, depressed 

 at the base, slightly curved, pointed ; nostrils basal, oval, covered 

 by a little protuberance. Legs long, slender; toes three^ very 

 short, divided nearly to the base, inner toe half the length of the 

 middle one ; its claw serrated ; claws very short ; wings moderate ; 

 first primary nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in 

 the wing. Page 377. 



85. (EDICNEMUS (Thick-knee). Bill stout, straight, longer 

 than the head, slightly compressed towards the end ; nostrils in the 

 middle of the bill, narrow, with the aperture in front, pervious ; 

 toes three, united by a membrane as far as the first joint ; wings as 

 in the last. Page 378. 



86. GLAREOLA (Pratincole). Bill short, convex, compressed 

 towards the point ; upper mandible curved throughout half its 

 length ; nostrils basal, oblique ; legs feathered nearly to the knee ; 

 tarsus long ; three toes in front, one behind, the latter jointed on 

 the tarsus ; wings very long ; first primary longest. Page 380. 



87. CHARADRITJS (Plover). Bill shorter than the head, slender, 

 straight, compressed, somewhat swollen towards the tip ; nasal 

 channel reaching from the base through two-thirds of the bill, 

 covered by a membrane ; nostrils basal, very narrow ; tarsi 

 moderate, slender ; toes three, the outer and middle connected by 

 a short membrane ; wings moderate ; first primary longest. Page 381. 



88. SQTJATAROLA (Grey Plover). Bill shorter than the head, 

 straight, swollen and hard towards the tip ; nostrils basal, narrow, 

 pierced in the membrane of a long groove ; legs slender ; outer and 

 middle toe connected by a short membrane, hind toe rudimentary, 

 jointed on the tarsus, not touching the ground ; wings long, pointed ; 

 first primary longest. Page 390. 



