220 GRALLATORES. VANELLUS. 
Nostrils basal, lateral, linear, pierced in the membrane of 
the nasal groove. 
Legs slender, with the lower part of the tibize naked ; feet 
four-toed, three before and one behind, united at the base 
by a membrane; that portion of it between the outer and 
middle toe being the largest. Hind toe very short, articu- 
lated upon the tarsus, and not reaching to the ground. 
Tarsi reticulated ; nails falcate ; the inner edge of the mid- 
dle one flattened and expanded. 
Wings ample, tuberculated or spurred; the three first 
quill feathers notched, or suddenly narrowing towards their 
tips, and shorter than the fourth and fifth, which are the 
longest in each wing. Plumage thick, soft, rather open in 
texture, with more or less of a metallic gloss. 
The members of this genus, of which the Crested Lap- 
wing (Vanellus cristatus) may be considered the type, are 
nearly allied in the form of the bill, and in their habits, to 
the genera Charadrius and Pluvianus, but differ from them 
in having a small hind toe, which feature brings them into 
connexion with other four-toed groups of the order Grail- 
latores. By Liynevus, Laruam, and other authors, they 
were, on account of this hind toe, placed in the genus 
Tringa, to the members of which they only bear a distant 
alliance; their true affinity with the other groups of the 
Charadriade being distinctly shewn, both from their ana- 
tomy and habits. The Lapwings have the forepart or elbow 
of the wing armed with a spur; in some species short and 
blunt, in others long and pointed. The head is also gene- 
rally furnished with peculiar appendages; in the European 
species, in the form of a long singularly shaped crest ; in 
other species appearing as wattles, or fleshy protuberances, 
about the bill and eyes. ‘They are the inhabitants of open 
ground and plains, particularly where the soil is of a moist 
nature ; feeding on worms, insects, larvee, &c. ‘They are sub- 
ject to the double moult ; but their vernal change of plumage 
is not attended with any remarkable difference of colour. 
