38 NATURAL HISTORY. [EAST. ZOOL. 
by remains, as for example, the foot in this Case, (presented by the 
Royal Society,) and a head (of which there is a cast in this Case) and 
foot, said to have belonged to a specimen which was formerly in Trades- 
cant's Museum, now forming part of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. 
The bird represented in the painting, in the shortness of the wings 
and colour, has much analogy to the ostrich, but its foot greatly re¬ 
sembles that of the common fowl, and the head, from the cere and the 
position and form of its nostrils, is most nearly allied to the vultures’; 
so that if these remains really belonged to one species, and that the one 
here represented, its true place in the series of birds is not as yet satis¬ 
factorily determined. An original painting of this bird, presented to 
the Museum by George Edwards, and copied in his works, plate 294, 
who says it was “ drawn in Holland, from a living bird brought from St. 
Maurice’s Island, in the East Indies,” is placed on the back of the Case. 
The Apterygince (Case 108) have the bill lengthened, slender and 
rather curved, marked on each side with a groove; the nostrils are at 
the tip, which overlaps the lower mandible; their wings are very short 
and armed with a spine; the hind toe is only visible in the form of a 
claw. Peculiar to New Zealand, where they are nocturnal birds, and 
feed on worms and insects. 
The other Wading Birds have long wings and fly well; many of 
them make periodical migrations, and are thus distributed over great 
part of the globe; they usually extend their legs behind them when they 
fly; place their nests near marshy places, or conceal them on the 
ground among the tufted plants. The eggs of these birds have spots on 
a grey, yellow, green, bluish red, or reddish ground. They are rarely 
sphaeroid, being mostly elongated and diminishing very rapidly from the 
large end. 
The family of Bustards (Otim:, Cases 110—114) have the strong 
legs and small feet of the ostrich, but the wings are longer, and they 
have sometimes a small hind toe. The base of the beak is flexible, and 
the end hard and covered with a horny sheath. The Bustards ( Otininoz , 
Cases 110, ill) have a moderate bill, slightly arched and vaulted; 
their wings rather short; their legs long, reticulated, and with three 
short toes. They are peculiar to the Eastern Hemisphere and Australia; 
they feed equally on grain, herbage, worms and insects. The Thick- 
knees ( (Edicnemince, Case 112) have the bill as long as or longer than 
the head, depressed at the base, and compressed and vaulted at the top; 
their wings moderate and pointed; their legs lengthened, and with three 
short toes. They are found in the uncultivated open country and dry 
deserts, searching for worms, slugs, insects, and small reptiles. The 
Coursers ( Cursorince , Case 112) have moderate sized bills, depressed 
at the base, with the culmen towards the tip curved and pointed; their 
wings lengthened and pointed; the legs lengthened and scutellated ; 
the toes three or four, armed with small claws. These birds live on the 
sandy deserts, where they feed on worms, &c. ; they run with surprising 
speed if disturbed. The Plovers ( Charadrinoz , Case 113) have a mode¬ 
rate sized bill, with the tips swollen and arched, and the nasal groove ex¬ 
tending to two-thirds of its length ; their wings moderate, with the first 
quill longest; their legs elevated and slender, having three or four toes. 
They are found in Europe and various parts of the world. Some in¬ 
habit the open districts, and in winter proceed to the sea-coast. Others 
