CULTRIROSTRES. 



147 



The third group, Cultrirostres (knife-shaped, 

 or ploughshare-shaped bills), is pretty natural, though 

 the epithet does not express the shape of the bills of 

 many of them. They are, in general, long-flighted 

 birds, ranging far and wide, especially in those coun- 

 tries which are subject to alternate drought and 

 inundation. Many of them are true waders, and 

 perhaps the most typical birds of all the grallidss. 



Adjutant. 



The fourth group, Longirostres (long-bills), is 

 also tolerably natural, though the single epithet 

 " long " is hardly sufficiently expressive of bills of so 

 many different shapes and textures, as are possessed 

 by these birds. Some genera of this group have so 

 much the habits of the former, that there is a verj'- 

 l2 



