226 GRALLATORES. SQUATAROLA. 



this sectional division, CUVIER and other naturalists made it 

 the type of a genus, of which it was then supposed to be 

 the only species ; a second, however, has been since disco- 

 vered in the southern hemisphere, specimens of which were 

 brought by Captain P. P. KING, R. N., from the Straits of 

 Magellan. This latter species has been figured in the 

 " Illustrations of Ornithology," under the title of Squatarola 

 cincta. In form and general appearance these birds are very 

 similar to the true Plovers (or genus Charadrius), and, in- 

 deed, are only to be distinguished by a stronger bill, and by 

 the small hind toe, which the Plovers totally want. This 

 character brings them into direct contiguity with the Lap- 

 wings, and they thus hold an intermediate station, forming the 

 connecting link between the genera Vanellus and Charadrius. 

 Their manners are also very similar, and they subsist on the 

 same food, viz. earth-worms, slugs, insects, and larvae. They 

 are subject to the double moult, and that of the European 

 species, in almost every respect, resembles the analogous 

 change in Charadrius Pluvialis ; whilst that of the exotic 

 species is very much like to Charadrius Morinellus. They 

 inhabit the borders of rivers, plains, and marshy tracts, as 

 well as the shores of the ocean, where they generally pass the 

 greater portion of the winter. In Europe they are migra- 

 tory, retiring in spring from the temperate parts to regions 

 within the arctic circle to breed. 



