PLUVIALIN^. CEDICNEMUS. 45 



arched, compressed, slender, blunted. Plumage close, 

 soft, generally blended, on the upper parts imbricated ; 

 the feathers oblong, rounded ; scapulars very long and 

 narrow ; wings long, narrow, pointed or moderately 

 rounded, with twenty -five feathers ; inner secondaries 

 elongated, tapering ; tail short, even or rounded, of twelve 

 feathers. 



Some species of this family occur in every part of the 

 globe. They generally feed on insects, larvae, worms, 

 small Crustacea, and mollusca ; are gregarious and migra- 

 tory, breeding in the colder regions ; form their nest in a 

 small cavity on the ground, and generally lay four ex- 

 tremely large pyriform spotted eggs. The young at first 

 covered with long soft down, run about from the first. 

 The Pluvialinse run with great speed, have a strong di- 

 rect flight, emit loud, shrill, or mellow cries, and frequent 

 open places, seldom wading in the water. The males are 

 larger than the females. The plumage is changed in au- 

 tumn, and there is a partial moult in spring, so that the 

 colours are, to a certain extent, different in summer. The 

 young in their first plumage differ from the adult. In 

 Britain ten species occur. 



GENUS LXXXVIII. CEDICNEMUS. THICK-KNEE. 



Birds of moderate or rather small size, with the body ovate 

 and rather full, the neck rather long, the head large, and 

 rounded. Bill rather longer than the head, stout, straight, 

 depressed at the base, compressed toward the end ; upper 

 mandible with the dorsal line straight to the middle, then 

 slightly arched and declinate, the ridge prominent, the nasal 

 sinus large, and filled by a bare membrane, the tip rather 

 acute ; lower mandible with the angle rather long and nar- 

 row, the dorsal line ascending, the tip rather acute ; gape- 

 line straight, commencing under the anterior angle of the 

 eye. Nostrils linear, oblong, medial, direct. Eyes large- 

 Aperture of ear large. Legs long, slender ; tibia bare be- 



