328 BIRDS. 



feet are reticulated, and there is a short membrane between each of their 



three toes. 



Charadrius cedicnemus, L.; (Edic. crepitans, Tern.; Courlis de 

 terre; Enl. 919; Frisch, 215; Naum. Ed. I, 9, f. 13. (The Thick- 

 knee). Size of a Woodcock ; a fawn-coloured grey, with a brown 

 streak on the middle of each feather ; white belly ; a brown streak 

 under the eye*. 



Charadrius, Cnv. 



The bill of the True Plovers is only inflated above, and has two-thirds 

 of its length on both sides occupied by the nasal fossce, a peculiarity 

 which renders it weaker. They live in large flocks, and frequent marshy 

 bottoms, where they strike the earth with their feet, in order to set in 

 motion the worms on which they feed. 



The species of France are only birds of passage, during the 

 autumn, and in the spring: near the sea coast, some of them remain 

 until the beginning of winter. Their flesh is excellent, and, with 

 various other species, they form a tribe with reticulated legs, the 

 most remarkable of which are : 



Char, pluvialin, L., Enl. 904; Frisch, 216; Naum. 1, c. 10, 

 f. 14; Wils. Am. VII, lix, 5. (The Golden Plover). Blackish; 

 the edges of its feathers dotted with yellow ; white belly. It is the 

 most common of all, and is found throughout the whole globe. The 

 north produces one which scarcely differs from it, except in its black 

 throat; it is the Char, apricarius, Edw. 140; Naum. 11, f. 15; 

 Wils. Am. VII, Ivii, 4. Some authors assert it is the young of 

 the other. 



Char. morineUus, L. ; Le Guignard, Enl. 832; Naum. 12, f. 

 16,67. (The Dotterel). Grey or blackish; feathers edged with 

 fulvous-grey ; a white streak over the eye ; breast and upper part of 

 the belly of a bright red ; lower part of the belly white. 



Char, hiaticula, J-i.; Pluvier a collier, Enl. 920; Frisch, 214; 

 Brit. Zool. pi. P ; Wils. Am. V, xxxvii, 2. (The Ring Plover). 

 Grey above; white beneath; a black collar round the lower part of 

 the neck, very broad in front ; the head variegated with black and 

 white ; bill yellow and black. Three or four species or races are 

 found in France, diff'ering in size, and in the distribution of the 

 colours on the headf . This same distribution, with but little va- 

 riation, is found in several species foreign to EuropeJ. 



* Add the CEdicnime tachard (CEd. mactdosus, Cuv.), Col. 292; — the CEd. a longs 

 pieds {CEd. loiigipes, Geoff), Vieill. Gal. 228, or CEd. echasse, Tern. Col. SSfi;— the 

 (Ed. a gros bee {CEd. magnirostris, Geoff), Col, 387, might, from the form of its bill, 

 be placed at the head of a particular series to which would belong a closely allied 

 species with a slightly reciurved upper mandible; CEd. recurvirostris, Cuv.; — Char, 

 crasdroslris, Spix, 94. 



t Ch. minor, Meyer, Enl. 921 ; Wils. VII, lix, 3; Naum. 15, f. 19, or Ch. curonicus. 

 Lath., with an entirely black bill; — Ch. cantianus, Lath., or albifrons, Meyer, of 

 which the Ch. agyptius may possibly be the female. Its collar is interrupted. 



X Char, vociferus, Enl. 286; Wils. VII, lix, 6;— Char, indicus, Lath. ;—C/iar. Axa- 

 rai, T. Col. 184;— CAar. melanops, Vieill. Gal. 235, or Ch. nigrifrons, Cuv., Am. Col. 



