CHARADRIAD &. 363 
the head, are on many of the species. Tarsus 
sometimes with a small hinder toe. (fig. 320. b) 
7 V. cristatus. Selby, ii. pl. 34. 
(Epicnemus, Thick-knee. Cul- 399 
men scarcely depressed in 
the middle, hard and ~~ 
strong, its entire length. pec : 
Nostrils large, membrana- 
ceous, not placed in a groove ; 
the aperture large, oval, terminal. Tail longer than 
the wings, rounded or graduated. Feet three-toed. 
The rasorial type. (fig. 322.) 
O. crepitans. Pl. Enl. 919. Americanus. Part 5. No.203. 
Tacuypromus™*, Illiger. Courier. Bill short, slender. 
Nostrils short, membranaceous, not placed in a groove, 
naked ; the aperture oval and lateral. Culmen straight 
as far as the nostrils, but curved beyond. Wings 
pointed. Feet three or four toed. The toes not 
flattened or margined. 
GuareEoa, Linn. Pratincole. Bill much compressed : 
culmen elevated and convex: gonys straight. Feet 
four-toed. Middle toe and claw very long ; the latter 
greatly developed, slightly curved, dilated, and ob- 
soletely serrated ; inner toe shortest ; hinder toe ele- 
vated, but touching the ground. Connected to 
Tachydromus by Tach. chalcopterus, Pl. Col. 298. 
| G. torquata. Selby, ii. pl. 63. 
Tachydromus, Illiger. Courier. (fig. 323.) Bill broader 
than high at its base : both mandibles often curved : the 
* There seems to me little doubt that these three subgenera, however 
‘widely apart they have hitherto been placed, are closely united; but the 
natural affinities of the group, whether with the bustards or the plovers, is 
by no means determined. Is it not a fissirostral type ? 
