(EDirXl'MIN.K. 
They  are  migratory  birds,  inhabiting  all  parts  of  the  world  except  North  America,  seeking  the  more  temperate 
regions  to  rear  their  young,  and  the  warmer  latitudes  to  pass  the  winter.  These  periodical  flights  are  performed  in 
Books  during  the  night,  with  great  swiftness.  It  is  in  uncultivated  open  moorlands  that  these  birds  arc  generally  found. 
Their  food  is  sought  for  during  the  evening  or  at  night  :  it  consists  of  small  quadrupeds,  reptiles,  and  especially 
worms  and  insects.  During  tin-  day  they  sit  closely  squatted  behind  a  stone,  or  any  other  object  sufficiently  large  to 
hide  them;  but,  if  disturbed,  they  fly  to  a  short  distance,  and  then  run  off  to  hide  with  great  rapidity.  Each  female 
deposits  two  eggs  on  the  surface  of  the  bare  ground.  The  young  arc  capable  of  following  the  parent  as  soon  as 
they  arc  excluded  from  the  egg. 
1.  (V.t\.  crepitans  Ti'inni.  IM.  enl.  <))<).  —  Charadrius  (Edicnemus 
Linn.;  (Ed.  curopieus  Vieilt.  ;  (Ed.  griseus  Koch. 
2.  (Ed.  xcnrgalrnsis  Swains.  Birds  of  W.  Afr.  ii.  228.  —  (Ed. 
affinis?  Ililpp.  Mus.  Senck.  1834.  210. 
.'>'.  (Ed.  fnaculottu  Tenun.  PI.  col.  292.  —  (Ed.  capensis  Licht, 
4.  (Ed.  bUtriatui  (WagL)  Isis,  1829.  (548.— (Ed.  vocifer  L'Herm. 
Mag.de  Zool.  1837-  pi.  84.;  (Ed.  amcricanus  Swains. 
.r>.  (Ed.  gral/arins  (Lath.)  Lambert's  Icon.  incd.  iii.  t.  11. — (Ed. 
longipes  VieiU.  PI.  col.  386'. ;  Charadrius  frenatus  Lath.  Lambert's 
Icon.  ined.  iii.  t.  41.;  ?  Charadrius  magnirostris  *  Lath.  Lambert's 
Icon.  ined.  ii.  t.  19. 
(i.  (Ed.  giganteut  Licht.  Isis,  1829.  647. 
Esacus  Less.-f 
Bitt  much  longer  than  the  head,  strong,  the  culmen  more  or  less  straight,  with  the  base  cultrated,  and 
the  tip  gradually  or  suddenly  hooked;  the  base  broad,  and  the  sides  gradually  compressed  to  the  tip  ; 
the  lateral  margins  more  or  less  curving  upwards  to  the  tip,  and  angulated  at  the  base;  the  lower 
inaudible  strong,  with  the  gonys  half  its  length,  angulated,  and  advancing  upwards  to  the  tip  ;  the 
nostrils  placed  in  a  membranous  groove,  rather  less  than  half  the  length  of  the  bill,  with  the  aperture 
longitudinal,  anterior,  and  near  the  margin. 
They  inhabit  the  wide  sandy  banks  of  the  larger  rivers  of  India  during  the  winter,  and,  as  the  summer  advances, 
migrate  to  the  northern  parts  of  India.  Their  food  consists  of  crabs  and  other  hard  shellfish.  They  are  also  found 
in  the  Indian  Archipelago  and  Australia. 
1.  Es.  recurvirostris  (Cuv.)  Less.  —  Carvanaca  grisea  Hodgs.; 
(Edicnemus  recurvirostris  Swains. 
2.  Es.  magnirostris  (Geoff.)  Tcmm.  PI.  col.  387. 
*  The  type  of  Illiger's  genus  Burhinus,  which  was  established  in  1811  on  Latham's  short  description,  taken  from  the  badly  executed 
drawing  referred  to  above. 
f  This  is  coequal  with  Carvanaca,  of  Mr.  Hodgson,  published  in  the  Journ.  As.  Soc.  Beng.  1836,  p.  776.  In  1841  he  changed  it  to 
Psetidops.     M.  Lesson's  name  was  published  in  1831,  in  his  Traitc  d'Oruithologic,  p.  547. 
Mag,  1844. 
