Diagnoses of Families and Genera S77 



and indented around nostrils, swollen and curved beyond them. 

 Hind toe generally wanting. Neck short and thick. Bill shorter 

 than tarsus, the tip usually hard. Tarsus covered with small, hexago- 

 nal scales behind, and in front except in Vanellus. 

 Generic Types. Vanellus. Size medium. Bill shorter than head and 

 equal to middle toe without claw, straight, slightly decurved at hard 

 tip, and slightly swollen at end of nasal groove. Nostrils in shallow 

 grooves extending two-thirds of maxilla. Tarsus with transverse scales 

 in front, small, hexagonal scales on sides. Web between outer and 

 middle toes at base. Hind toe with claw present. Head with long 

 occipital crest. Plumage of upper parts metallic. Inner secondaries 

 broad and with tips rounded, the distance from shortest secondary to 

 tip of the primaries less than half the length of the wing. One spe- 

 cies in genus, a straggler to North America. 



Eitdromias. Size small. Bill moderately stout, shorter than mid- 

 dle toe without claw. Tibia feathered nearly to tibio-tarsal joint. 

 No hind toe. Inner secondaries very long and pointed. The dis- 

 tance from the shortest secondary to the tip of primaries more than 

 half the length of the wing. No occipital crest. Upper parts of 

 plumage brown without metallic lustre. Lower abdomen white. 

 Tail not barred. One species in genus, according to Sharpe's classifi- 

 cation, belonging to the Old World, but straggling to Alaska. 



Squatarola. Size medium. Bill similar to Vanellus, but stouter 

 and longer, about as long as head and equal to middle toe and claw. 

 Nasal groove not prolonged much beyond middle of bill. Tarsus 

 with small, hexagonal scales in front and on sides. Web between 

 outer and middle toes at base. Hind toe with nail present but very 

 small. Head not crested. Plumage of upper parts black and white, 

 and entire lower parts medially black in summer. Tail barred. One 

 species in genus, found through most of the world. 



Charadrius. Size medium. Similar to Squatarola, but bill smaller 

 and more slender, shorter than head, and about equal to middle toe 

 without claw. Hind toe absent. Plumage of upper parts spangled 

 with black, white, and yellow. Two species and a subspecies in 

 genus ; all found in North America, but only one widely distributed. 



jEgialitis. Size small or medium. Bill varying from short and 

 heavy in A£. meloda, short and slender in ^S. dubia — in both shorter 

 than middle toe without claw, to long and very heavy in y£. wilsonia 

 — equal to or longer than middle toe and claw. Upward swelling of 

 maxilla at end of nasal groove, usually very marked. Nasal groove 

 extending more than halfway to tip of maxilla. Tarsus with small, 

 2F 



