GRALL^E. 

 Fam. CHARADRIID.E. 



Bill hard and not flexible, extremely variable in shape ; short in some, long and stout in 

 others, and very slender in one group. Wings pointed ; tertials moderately long. Tail short. 

 Legs lengthened and proportionately slender ; toes short ; hind toe wanting in most genera ; 

 outer and middle toe joined at the base by a web, as also the inner toe in some. 



Sternum generally with wide exterior fissure and a small interior one. Eye large in nearly 

 all. Mostly of gregarious and littoral habit. Plumage in some genera the same throughout the 

 year, in the majority changed at the breeding-time. Nesting on the ground. 



Subfam. HIMANTIPODIN^E. 



Bill slender and attenuated. "Wings pointed ; tertials not elongated. Tail short, of 12 

 feathers. Legs very long and slender; toes united in front by a web, in one genus much 

 developed ; hind toe wanting or very minute. 



Of moderate size. 



Genus HIMANTOPUS. 



Bill long, straight, very slender and attenuated at the tip, near which it is rounded ; culmen 

 flattened at the base. Nostrils linear, in a groove running half the length of the bill. Wings 

 very long and pointed ; 1st primary the longest and much exceeding the 2nd. Tail of 12 feathers, 

 short and rounded. Legs very long and slender, the bare portion of tibia f the length of tarsus; 

 hind toe wanting ; anterior toes short and connected at the base by a web, that between the 

 outer and middle being considerably developed. 



HIMANTOPUS CANDIDUS. 



(THE COMMON STILT.) 



Himantopus candidus, Bonnat. Tabl. Encycl. et Method. Orn. i. p. 24 (1791); Gould, B. of 

 Eur. iv. pi. 280 (1837) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 264 (1849) ; Kelaart, Pro- 

 dromus, Cat. p. 134 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 265 ; Schlegel, 

 Mus. P.-B. Scolopaces, p. 105 (1864); Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 705 (1864); 

 Layard, B. of South Afr. no. 618 (1867) ; Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 405 ; Shelley, B. of 

 Egypt, p. 260 (1872); Legge, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 376; Irby, B. of Gibraltar, p. 164 

 (1875); Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 63, 64 (1877); David & Oust. Ois. de la Chine, p. 462 



