122 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



Samoa Islands, one of the Australian sub- 

 regions. 



The Charadriiformes are another great cosmo- 

 politan order, included in which are some of the 

 most widely distributed of all avine forms. It 

 is, as we have already seen (conf. p. 82), a very 

 composite order, made up of no less than nine 

 more or less distinct families, the geographical 

 distribution of which may be thus outlined. 

 First we have the Bustards (Otididae), confined 

 exclusively to the Old World, birds of a decidedly 

 Ethiopian type. The Typical Bustards are found 

 in three out of the four zoological regions of the 

 Eastern Hemisphere, being only absent from the 

 Australian Region ; whilst the Ruffed Bustards 

 penetrate into every Old World region. Follow- 

 ing the Bustards come the Stone Curlews (OEdic- 

 nemidae), a small family, yet with a comparatively 

 wide area of dispersal, which includes the temper- 

 ate and tropical portions of the Old World and 

 the Neotropical Region in the New World. The 

 third family consists of the Coursers (Cursoriidae), 

 distributed over the Ethiopian and Oriental 

 Regions and the southern portions of the Palae- 

 arctic Region. The fourth family, the Pratincoles 

 (Glareolidae), has a very similar distribution, but 

 also includes Australia. The fifth family, which 



