Systematic Course. 67 
Geranomorphz feed on a mixed diet of fruit, grain and 
insects and are of no great importance, 
XIV.—Limicolz.—This group includes the plovers, snipe, curlews 
and stints, which have feet modified for walking on soft 
mud and often a long beak. The plovers and snipe are 
valuable for food, and the students should be able to re. 
cognise them in the School Museum. ~ 
XV.—Gavie.—This group is very closely related to the Limicola ; 
it comprises the gulls, river terns and skimmers, which 
are none of them of any practical importance. 
With regard to the time of the year during which nesting goes on 
in India, Mr. W. L. Sclater writes—“ Most small birds, in Upper India 
at any rate, breed between April and July. Of course there are many 
exceptions ; but the four months—April, May, June, and July—would 
practically cover the breeding time of all the birds which require protec- 
tion. In Southern India many birds breed in December and January, 
and in the hills the breeding season, as, for instance, in the case of the 
monaul, is in July and August. In the case, however, of Lower Bengal, 
the best months are undoubtedly April, May, and June.” (Extract 
fiom Indian Museum Notes, volume II, No, 5.) 
Mamma ts. 
Air-breathing warm-blooded vertebrates, more or less covered with 
hair, They nourish their young for a time after birth with the secretion 
of mammary glands. The skull articulates to the vertebral column by 
two occipital condyles. The aorta is single and bends over to the left 
side. The heart consists of four completely divided chambers, For an 
account of the main features in the anatomy of a typical mammal, see the 
chapter on the dissection of the palm squirrel. The students should 
compare the skull of a bird with that of a mammal to notice the single 
condyle in the one and the two condyles in the other, also the apparent 
absence of the quadrate bone in the mammal, They should also sketch 
the teeth in the skull of some such mammal as the jackal, so as to learn 
the arrangement of the incisors, canines, premolars and molars, 
Mammals are usually classified into the three groups—Prototheria, 
Metatheria and Futheria. The Prototherta comprise the duck-billed 
platypus and the spiny Echidna, both of the Australian region, These 
creatures are of no practical importance to the Indian forester, but they 
are interesting as representing the lowest existing types of mammalia. 
They are characterised by the generalised nature of the brain and bones, 
the simplicity of the generative and urinary organs, and by the fact that 
unlike other mammalia, they lay eggs which contain a nutritive 
yolk as in the case of birds. The Metatheria include the kangaroos and 
wombats of Australia and the opossums of South America, They 
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