Order GAVI^E*. 



Bill and nostril varied. Wings lengthened, with 10 primaries. Tail even or forked. 

 Legs short ; tibia bare more or less above the knee ; tarsi compressed laterally. Feet more or 

 less fully webbed ; hind toe very small (in one family only represented by a nail) and placed 

 above the anterior ones. 



Nidificating on the ground, as the last family, and the young likewise autophagous, or 

 following the parent from the egg. Plumage thick and close. Of powerful flight. 



Fam. LABID^. 



Bill straight; nostrils lateral and linear; gonys short and deep in some, long and less 

 pronounced in others, the tip of the mandible hooked in one group. Wings long, 1st quill the 

 longest ; secondaries short. Tail variable in length, of 1 2 feathers, even or cuneate in some, 

 forked in others. Feet webbed, the inner web incised in some ; hind toe present. 



Sternum with double shallow notches, rounded at the apices. 



Subfam. STERNINJ3. 



Bill straight, rather slender, the tips of both mandibles acute ; the gonys long and slightly 

 pronounced; nostrils linear and pervious. Primaries lengthened. Tail variable, in some 

 emarginate, in others deeply forked. Legs and feet small, inner web more or less incised in 

 most. 



With a change of plumage in summer, acquired by a moult. Not of natatorial habit. 



Genus HTDROCHELIDON. 

 Bill typically short, less compressed than in the next genus, the gonys short; nostrils 

 widened. Wings long, exceeding the tail when closed, with the 1st quill considerably longer 

 than the 2nd. Tail short, emarginate. Legs and feet small ; webs very deeply scalloped, the 

 inner joining the middle toe at its 1st joint ; claws long and curved. 



* The relations of this order with the great Limicoline group which has just been dealt with do not seem to have 

 been sufficiently recognized. The Gavise, as dwellers on the sea, are merely altered forms of shore-birds, outwardly 

 modified for more enduring flight and greater powers of progression on the water. Their nidification is similar to that 

 of the Limieolce, their eggs are of the same character, and the young follow the parent from the nest ; in every thing, 

 in fact, but flight and note, the Gulls and the Plovers resemble one another in no small degree. A visit to the Zoological 

 Gardens, where Oystercatchers and Gulls are kept in the same enclosure, will demonstrate the exact resemblance in form, 

 deportment, gait, and general outward appearance that exists between these two genera. 



6 m 



