668 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



any notch, or rather, perhaps, the outer margin is deficient. 

 The trachea is elongated, and descends under the skin of the 

 abdomen, "which causes the voice, which is a low deep sound, to 

 appear as if it came from the abdomen. It lives in the woods, 

 feeds on fruit and grains, and soon becomes domesticated. It flies 

 badly, but runs well, and nestles on the ground at the foot of a 

 tree. Blyth states that its port is that of a Struthious bird, and he 

 is inclined to rank it, not far from the Tinamidce, as a distinct 

 group. If this view is correct, it will be another link joining the 

 Easorial birds to the Grallatores. Two additional species have 

 lately been described. 



Tribe Longirostres, Cuvier. 



Bill more or less lengthened, slender, and feeble ; wings usually 

 long and pointed ; tail short ; tarsus moderately long ; toes mode- 

 rate, the exterior one generally joined to the middle toe by a 

 short web, and the hallux short and raised, absent in a very few. 



This tribe contains a number of generally small wading birds, 

 classed by Linnams in Scolopax and Tringa, and many closely 

 resembling each other in colour and conformation. Most have a 

 double moult, and the change of plumage is considerable in 

 many. All are migratory, and several associate in winter in large 

 flocks ; others are more or less solitary. They feed on small 

 molluscs, Avorms, and Crustacea, for which they bore in the soft 

 mud of rivers, lakes, or marshes ; and the bill of some is peculiarly 

 sensitive at the tip. They nidificate on the ground, laying usually 

 four somewhat conical eggs, colored something like those of the 

 Plovers, and the young run as soon as they leave the shell. 



The sternum has a double emargination, the outermost the 

 largest, and the keel is high ; the bony orbit is very deficient. 

 The stomach is a muscular gizzard, and the intestines are long, 

 with small or moderate caeca. The females are, in many cases, 

 larger than the males ; in a very few, the males are much larger 

 than the females, and, in these cases, are polygamous. 



They are very closely related to the Plovers in structure and 

 internal anatomy, but differ in their more lengthened bill, slender 

 form, more aquatic habits, and mode of coloration. 



