370 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



bits. The plovers [charadrius , Linn.), to the 

 number of thirty species, are arranged on the 

 three first shelves of the thirty-eighth case. These 

 birds live in numbers on humid soils, and strike 

 the ground with their feet, to make the worms, 

 on which they feed, come out; their flesh is 

 generally esteemed. The golden plover is com- 

 mon in our climates. The lapwings are on the 

 fourth shelf ; they very nearly approach the plo- 

 vers ; that of Europe is pretty, its head is adorned 

 with a loose elegant crest; its eggs are consi- 

 dered a great delicacy. Several species of lap- 

 wings and plovers have their naked face fur- 

 nished with long caruncles ; others have a very 

 long and pointed spur to the joint of their wings, 

 with which they defend themselves against the 

 birds of prey. Below the lapwings are the 

 oyster-catchers (Jicematopus) , so called because 

 they open the shells of oysters with their bill, 

 which is strong and square at the end ; they are 

 also called sea-pies, because their plumage is 

 varied black and white like that of the magpie. 



The bottom of the case is occupied by the ibis. 

 The most celebrated species is that worshipped 

 by the Egyptians, and which M. Cuvier has named 

 the sacred ibis, after having compared those 

 which live in Africa with the mummies brought 

 from Egypt by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Two 



