CHARADRIUS. PLOVER. 



Generic Character. 



Rostrum breve, gracile, rec- 

 tum, teretiusculum, apice 

 obtusum. 



Nares basales, lineares. 



Pedes cursorii, tridactyli ; di- 

 giti exteriores basi mem- 

 brana connexi. 



Cauda rotundata, aut cunei- 

 forma. 



Alee mediocres, aut muticas 

 aut calcaratae. 



BeaJc short, slender, straight, 

 rounded, the tip obtuse. 



Nostrils basal, linear. 



Feet formed for running, 

 three-toed ; the outer toes 

 connected at the base by a 

 membrane. 



Tail rounded or cuneiform. 



Wings medial, smooth, or 

 armed with a spur. 



Charadrius. Linn. Gmel. Lath, VieiL Leach, Temm. Cuv, SfC, 

 Pluvialis. Rati, Briss. 



Plovers subsist on small worms and various 

 aquatic insects : the three first species frequent 

 the muddy borders of great rivers and marshy 

 places, and but rarely appear in the neighbourhood 

 of the sea coast, which situation all the others of 

 the genus affect, and also the mouth of those rivers 

 that disembogue themselves into the sea. 



They vary extremely in their plumage at dif- 

 ferent periods of the year, and in fact many of the 

 species run into each other so greatly, as to render 



