PLUVIALIN^E. PLUVIALIS. 47 



ed, spotted, and streaked with dark-brown and purplish -grey, 

 two inches and two-twelfths in length, an inch and a half in 

 breadth, and of an oval form. 



Norfolk Plover. Stone Curlew. Thick-kneed Bustard. 



Charadrius (Edicnemus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 255. Otis 

 (Edicnemus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 661. (Edicnemus crepi- 

 tans, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 521. (Edicnemus crepitans, 

 Stone Thick-knee, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



GENUS LXXXIX. PLUVIALIS. PLOVER. 



The Plovers form a genus of moderate extent, and of which 

 three species occur in Britain. They are all of rather small 

 size, with the body ovate, and rather full ; the neck of mo- 

 derate length ; the head rather small, somewhat compressed, 

 and much rounded above. Bill nearly as long as the head, 

 straight, rather slender, compressed ; upper mandible with 

 the dorsal line straight, and slightly declinate for two-thirds, 

 then bulging a little, or arcuate at the end, the nasal groove 

 long and rather wide, the edges slightly inflected, the tip 

 narrow, but rather obtuse ; lower mandible with the angle 

 rather long and narrow, the dorsal line ascending and slightly 

 convex, the edges inflected, the tip narrow, but rather blunt ; 

 the gape-line straight. Mouth very narrow ; palate with 

 two longitudinal ridges, and anteriorly a double row of pa- 

 pillae ; tongue rather long, very narrow, subtrigonal, deeply 

 channelled above, pointed ; oesophagus narrow, without dila- 

 tation ; proventriculus oblong ; stomach a rather large mus- 

 cular gizzard, of an elliptical or roundish compressed form, 

 with two strong lateral muscles, radiated tendons, and dense, 

 longitudinally rugous epithelium ; intestine long and nar- 

 row ; coeca small, cylindrical, and very narrow. Nostrils 

 small, linear, pervious, subbasal, near the margin. Eyes 

 large and full, both eyelids feathered. Aperture of ear large, 

 roundish. Legs of moderate length, very slender ; tibia 

 long, bare for nearly a fourth ; tarsus of ordinary length, 

 anteriorly and laterally covered with numerous hexagonal 

 scales ; toes rather short, slender, three before, in one in- 

 stance a rudimentary hind toe, the third and fourth con- 

 nected at the base by a web, all margined and scutellate ; 

 claws rather short, compressed, slightly arched, slender, ob- 



