100 MANUAL 



basal membrane ; hind toe generally present. Bill 

 generally longer than the head, the groove extending 

 beyond the middle." 



The above characters will aid the young student. He will 

 do well, however, not to confine himself too strictly to them, 

 without looking for other determining characteristics for his 

 family problems in this most perplexing group of interest- 

 ing forms. 



FAMILY XXXVII CHARADRIIDAE THE 

 PLOVERS 



Greek charadrios, Latin charadrius, a plover. 



The vast extent, both as to territory and as to numbers, of 

 the " Shore Birds," as they are called, renders them at once 

 a difficult and an interesting group of individuals to study. 

 The varieties of classification to which they have been sub- 

 jected, and the diversity of forms presented, are well calcu- 

 lated to perplex the student, though they present a most ex- 

 cellent field for research and careful investigation. We have, 

 hitherto, been treating of the Land Birds exclusively : We 

 now enter what is known as the province of Water Birds. 

 In the former case we found that the characters of the bill> 

 the tarsus (rarely the toes and the wings to a small extent), 

 and the tail, presented us with the main features of our classi- 

 fication ; in the latter or present case, the feet — and toes — 

 and the wings, added to the bill and often peculiar shape of 

 the head, will furnish perhaps the most prominent and strik- 

 ing determining characteristics. The bill varies about equally 

 in both divisions. 



Our first family, then, will be that of the Plovers. As our 

 American representatives are included in a single sub-family, 

 our characterization of them will answer equally well for sub- 

 family or family diagnosis : Bill equal to or shorter than the 

 head, somewhat Columbine in appearance at base, but more 

 like a true bill at the terminal portion ; nostrils a long slit 



