Order GAVIiE* 
Bill and nostril varied. Wings lengthened, with 10 primaries. Tail even or forked. 
Legs short ; tibia hare more or less above the knee ; tarsi compressed laterally. Feet more or 
less fully webbed ; hind toe very small (in one family only represented by a nail) and placed 
above the anterior ones. 
Nidificating on the ground, as the last family, and the young likewise autophagous, or 
following the parent from the egg. Plumage thick and close. Of powerful flight. 
Fam. LARIDiE. 
Bill straight; nostrils lateral and linear; gonys short and deep in some, long and less 
pronounced in others, the tip of the mandible hooked in one group. Wings long, 1st quill the 
longest; secondaries short. Tail variable in length, of 12 feathers, even or cuneate in some, 
forked in others. Feet webbed, the inner web incised in some ; hind toe piesent. 
Sternum with double shallow notches, rounded at the apices. 
Subfam. STERNIN/E. 
Bill straight, rather slender, the tips of both mandibles acute ; the gonys long and slightly 
pronounced; "nostrils linear and pervious. Primaries lengthened. Tail variable, in some 
emarginate, in others deeply forked. Legs and feet small, inner web more or less incised in 
most. 
With a change of plumage in summer, acquired by a moult. Not of natatorial habit. 
Genus HTDEOCHELIDON. 
Bill typically short, less compressed than in the next genus, the gonys short; nostiils 
widened. Wings long, exceeding the tail when closed, with the 1st quill considerably longer 
than the 2nd. Tail short, emarginate. Legs and feet small; webs very deeply scalloped, the 
inner joining the middle toe at its 1st joint ; claws long and curved. 
* The relations of this order with the great Limicoline group which has just been dealt with do not seem to have 
Wu sufficiently recognized. The Gavhe, as dwellers on the sea, are merely altered forms of shore-birds, outwardly 
modified for more enduring flight and greater powers of progression on the water. Their nidification is similar to that 
nf the Limicolce their eggs are of the same character, and the young follow the parent from the nest; m every thing 
in fact but flight and note, the Gulls and the Plovers resemble one another in no small degree. A visit to the Zoological 
Gardens where Oystercatchers and Gulls are kept in the same enclosure, will demonstrate the exact resemblance in form, 
deportment, gait, and general outward appearance that exists between these two genera. 
6 M 
