The Identification of Birds 
once distinguish them, the hind-toe being so small and 
high up as to be of no use; only the two outer front 
toes show a web at the base. In the bill the corner 
of the mouth does not extend further back than the 
forehead, and the nostrils are set well forwards, the 
front being in the middle of the bill; in the Storks and 
Herons they are at the base. 
The Rails, mcluding Moorhens and Coots (Rallide), 
are very narrowly-built birds with flat-sided bills, 
having the nostrils set far forward as in the Cranes, and 
the three front toes quite free. The hind-toe is large 
enough to be of use, and these birds are the only ones 
of the present section at all given to perching. The 
wings are always short. (Fig. 9.) 
The Courlans (Aramide), in their anatomy 
said to be allied to the Cranes, resemble large 
Fig. 7. COMMON GULL 
Rails im outward characteristics. 
The Plovers (Charadriide), belonging to a 
family which includes the Sandpipers, Snipes, 
Avocets, Curlews, and Oyster-Catchers, are 
easily distinguishable, and yet possess only one 
point in common—the very forward situation 
of the corner of the mouth, which is well in 
‘front of the forehead. This peculiarity does 
not occur in any birds which could be 
mistaken for the present group. 
The bill itself varies immensely; in the Plovers it 
much resembles a pigeon’s, and these birds have large 
round heads; in the Sandpipers it is long, and especially 
so in the Snipes; im the Curlews it is turned down, in 
the Avocets upwards, and in the Wry-Billed Plover 
(Anarhynchus frontalis) to one side! 
The feet are equally variable; the three front toes 
may be free altogether, as in the Snipes, or webbed more 
or less, even for half their length, as in the Avocets ; 
the shanks may be as short as a pigeon’s, as in the 
Turnstones; or as long in proportion as the Flamingo’s, 
as in the Stilts. The hind-toe is always small, usually 
useless, and often absent altogether. (Fig. 10.) 
The wings are usually characteristic, the inner quills 
or tertiaries being much longer than the adjacent 
an 
eee a) 8. SQUACCO HERON. 
Fa ae = 
=e Se & 
WHITE-BREASTED 
WATER-HEN. 
secondaries, and reaching to the tip of the wing; but 
in some this curious formation is less striking. 
The Crab-Plover (Dromas ardeola) has a family to itself; 
it is a pied bird with a strong crow-like beak with corner 
of mouth running back to eye, feet with the three fore-toes 
webbed well at the base, and the hind-toe large enough to 
Its foot and bill are rather like a small Stork’s; 
but its plover-like wings and short neck will distinguish it 
have large, strong, 
crow-like bills, with the corner of the mouth extending 
be of use. 
The Stone-Plovers (Hdicnemide) 
RUFF (SANDPIPER). 
