AVES—BUSTARD....PLOVER. 621 
THE LITTLE BUSTARD! 
Dirrers only from the preceding in being of a smaller size, being not .arger 
than a pheasant, or about seventeen inches in length. This species is found 
in many parts of Europe. It is, however, by no means common in France 
and has only been met with three or four times in England. 
ORDER XIII.—GRALLATORES. 
Birps of this order have the bill of various forms, but most frequently 
straight, in the form of an elongated cone, and compressed, more rarely de- 
pressed or flat; legs slender, long, more or less naked above the knee, three 
toes before and one behind, the posterior one jointed at the level of those be- 
fore, or more elevated. These birds frequent the margin of the sea, or the 
banks of lakes and rivers, feeding on fish, worms, or insects. They are 
almost all sew i -noeturnal. 
fH LONG-LEGGED PLOVER 
Truss sv gvix. bird, we might perhaps justly say, most singular of birds, 
whabits ‘ne sath of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, but very rarely 
visits Engia i. Chance alone seems to drive it to that country. It hasa 
slender, bl«rz sill, two inches and a half in length; the irides are red; the 
forehead, round the eye, and all the under parts, are white; the back, the 
crown of t).e s ead, and the wings, are glossy black ; the hind part of the 
neck is ma’+-d with dusky spots; the rump is white; the tail the same, 
inclining tc v.‘ y; the outer feathers are quite white, the legs -ed; and the 
outer and u7.le toes connected at the base. 
1 Otis tetrar, Lin. 
* Himantopus melanopterus, Mever. The genus Himantopus has the bill long, slen- 
der, cylindrical, flattened at the base, compressed at the point; mandibles laterally chan- 
nelled to the half of their length ; nostrils i Nteral; linear, foie legs very long and slender, 
With three toes before, of which the intermediate is united to the outer by a broad mem- 
bran2, and to the inner by a rudimentary one; claws very small and flat; wings very 
long; the first feathers much longer than the others. 
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