10 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus CHARADEIUS. 



The genus Charadrius was recognized by Linnaeus in 1766, in the 12th 

 edition of his ' Systema Natures/ i. p. 253. The Golden Plover (Chara- 

 drius pluvialis) may be accepted as the type, on the ground that Brisson 

 regarded it as so emphatically the typical Plover that he changed the name 

 of the genus from Charadrius to Pluvialis. 



The true Plovers may be distinguished from all the other genera in this 

 family, except the Lapwings, by the peculiar shape of the bill, which 

 gradually tapers from the base for about two thirds of its length, but swells 

 again towards the tip*. From the Lapwings they may be distinguished 

 by their pointed wings ; the first primary is the longest, and each succeed- 

 ing one is considerably shorter, so that the fourth primary falls short 

 of the first by a distance about equal to the length of the bill. The hind 

 toe is generally absent, but in some species it is present. In some species 

 the tarsus is reticulated, and in others it is scutellated in front and occa- 

 sionally behind. 



This genus is cosmopolitan, and contains about forty species. Eight of 

 these are European, of which seven are included in the list of British 

 birds, but it is difficult to define with accuracy the limits of this genus. 



It has been taken for granted by some ornithologists that if we had all 

 the forms of bird-life which exist, or have existed, before us, they would 

 be found to intergrade with each other in every direction, and that conse- 

 quently no classification of them would be possible. This is an utter 

 fallacy. If the hypothesis of evolution be true, no doubt a complete series 

 must exist or have existed between any two or more forms, but that con- 

 sequently no classification of them would be possible is not true, or is at 

 least in the highest degree improbable. Because the boundaries between 

 groups cannot be defined with accuracy, it does not follow that character- 

 istic groups do not exist and would not be well marked. To make such an 

 assumption is as absurd as to say that the Himalayas cannot be distin- 

 guished from the steppes of Asia, because they intergrade with each other, 



* The Turnstones are slightly aberrant in this respect, having the profile of the upper 

 mandible of the short thick bill nearly straight; they are a very perplexing group of birds 

 to the systematic ornithologist, and form an intermediate link between the Plovers and 

 the Short-legged Sandpipers. To the former they are connected by a Pacific island bird 

 (Charadrius virgatus), which is to all intents and purposes a Turnstone, with the bill of a 

 Plover. According to Nitzsch the internal structure of the Turnstones more closely 

 resembles that of the Plovers than that of the Sandpipers, so that, on the whole, they may 

 be regarded as slightly aberrant Plovers, under the subgeneric name of Morinetta. 



