354 University cf California Publications in Zoology fVoi,. 13 



with the herons instead of with the cranes. Cariama is undoubtedly 

 nearer to Eurypyga than to any other forms. 



In general it seems best to consider the Gruidae, Aramidae, and 

 Eallidae as offshots from a primitive stem leading to the Laro- 

 limicolae, while the Otididae, Psophiidae, and possibly the Ara- 

 midae, are more probably early offshots from the stem leading to 

 the Columbae and Galli. The Eurypygidae, and possibly the Caria- 

 midae, are almost certainly of ardeid derivation. 



e) Summary 



(1) Distribution of plumules variable, uniformly distributed, 

 or sparse all over, confined to apteria in Otis. 



(2) Aftershaft present, rudimentary, or absent. 



(3) Distal barbules in different forms showing affinities to the 

 Laro-limicolae, Galli and Ardeae ; proximal barbules with incon- 

 spicuous teeth, pennulum very different in different forms, some- 

 times with cilia in outer vane, sometimes without. 



(4) Breast feathers in Gruidae, Aramidae, and Rallidae with 

 flexules on barbules, but of galline type in Psophiidae and Otididae, 

 and ardeid in Eurypygidae and Cariamidae. 



(5) Down barbules medium or long, smoothly filamentous, or 

 with inconspicuous prongs at the nodes, or pigmented, with the 

 nodes slightly enlarged. 



10. Order CHARADRIIFORMES 

 Plates 28-29 

 Including a very large assemblage of birds which in general 

 appearance seem to have little or nothing in common, the Chara- 

 driiformes are nevertheless joined together into a more or less 

 natural group by numerous more or less intermediate species which 

 bridge over the gaps separating the more widely divergent forms. 

 It is divisible into two main suborders, the Laro-limicolae and 

 Pteroclo-columbae, which will be separately treated. 



Suborder Laro-limicolae 



Plate 28 

 This suborder includes three groups of birds, the Limicolae, the 

 Lari, and the Alcae, including the plovers and their allies, the gull- 

 like birds, and the auks and murres respectively. They are all 

 characterized by the uniform, though often sparse (especially in the 



