64 AVES. 



four toes, naked : wings short, and concave ; the fourth and 

 fifth quills generally longest : tail short, of from twelve to 

 eighteen feathers. 



(1. PERDIX.) Bill short, and strong: orbits naked: tarsus in the 

 male armed with a blunt tubercle : tail short, and bent down. 



*(2. ORTYX.) Bill thick, strong, higher than broad : orbits feathered: tarsi 

 unarmed : wings with the first quill very short ; fifth longest : tail short 

 or moderate, of twelve feathers. 



(3. COTURNIX.) Bill short, and slender: orbits feathered: tarsi 

 unarmed : wings with the first quill longest : tail very short, 

 almost concealed by the upper coverts. 



IV. STRUTHIONID^. Hind toe wanting : tarsi 

 without spurs: wings very short, often unfit for 

 flight. 



60. OTIS Bill moderate, subconic, nearly straight, 



compressed ; the upper mandible arched towards the tip : 

 nostrils oval, open, a little remote from the base : legs 

 long, naked above the knee; toes connected by a mem- 

 brane at the base : wings moderate ; third quill longest. 

 f 



ORDER IV. GRALLATORES. 



Bill various : legs moderate or elongated, slender, with 

 the lower part of the tibia generally naked, adapted 

 for wading : toes long, three or four in number, 

 more or less connected by a membrane at the base, 

 sometimes lobated. 



I. CHARADRIID^E. Bill short or moderate, 

 rarely elongated; robust or slender: legs mode- 

 rate, or elongated : toes three, all directed for- 

 wards ; rarely the rudiment of a fourth ; the 

 outer and middle toes generally united at the 

 base by a membrane. 



61. CURSORIUS Bill shorter than the head, de- 

 pressed at the base, somewhat arched and bent down to- 



