THE PLOVERS. 
1.37 
a schizognatlious palate, opisthocoelous dorsal vertebrae, and no 
basipterygoid processes. The nostrils are schizorhinal, the 
spinal-feather tract is forked on the upper back, and occipital 
fontanellcs are present. Most of the species have young 
covered with golden or buff down vanegated with black, and 
they are able to run and pick up food for themselves soon after 
they are hatched. . , i 
The Charadrii are found in every portion of the globe, and 
are amongst the most migratory of birds, breeding in the ex- 
treme north, and many of them reaching the southernmost points 
of America, Africa, and Asia on their winter migrations. 
THE PLOVERS AND SNIPES. FAMILY 
CHARADRIIDiE. 
There is but one Family in the Sub-order ChciTcidTii^ and its 
characters are, of course, synonymous with those of the Sub- 
order. In this volume I have followed the arrangement 
adopted by Mr. Howard Saunders in his excellent “ Manual,” 
but in the “ Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,” I have 
adopted the following sequence of the Sub-families of the 
Charadriidee:—^. Arenariime (Turn-stones); U ffamatopo- 
dina (Oyster-catchers) ; III. Lohmndhnm (Wattled Plovers) , 
IV. Charadriince (True Plovers), Himantopodina (Stilts and 
Avocets), TotanincB (Sandpipers), Scolopaana: (Snipes), and 
Phalaropina (Phalaropes). 
In my present arrangement I begin with 
THE TRUE PLOVERS. SUB-FAMILY 
CHARADRIINzE. 
All the True Plovers have the tarsus reticulated both in front 
and behind, the reticulations being generally w'ell-marked and 
in the form of hexagonal scales, but not transverse plates, as m 
many Plovers. There is also a “ dertrum,” or swelling of the 
end of the bill, which is more prominent than the basal por- 
^'°Among the Charadriince are contained a few genera of 
