Part 10

FAMILY OTIDIDÆ (BUSTARDS)

Bill flattened and obtuse; no hind toe; tarsi unarmed; wings very short; rectrices sixteen to twenty.

107. OTIS (Bustard). Legs long, naked above the knee; wings moderate, hind quill longest. Page 236

ORDER LIMICOLÆ (WADERS)

Leg and tarsus long, the lower portion of the former generally destitute of feathers; bill long or moderate; toes three or four, more or less connected by a membrane at the base, sometimes lobated. Primaries eleven; fifth secondary wanting; after shaft to contour feathers present.

Adapted by structure for feeding in marshes, on the muddy or sandy sea-shore, or on the banks of lakes and rivers. Some, which feed on fish, have unusually long legs and powerful bills; others, owing to their length of bill and legs, are able to search muddy places for worms and insects, without clogging their feathers; and others, again, are decidedly aquatic, and have considerable swimming powers, thus approaching the next order; the majority have great power of flight, and lay their eggs on the ground.

FAMILY GLAREOLIDÆ

108. GLARÉOLA (Pratincole). Bill short, convex, compressed towards the point; upper mandible curved throughout half its length; nostrils basal, oblique; legs feathered nearly to the knee; tarsus long; three toes in front, one behind, the latter joined on the tarsus; wings very long; first primary longest. Page 238

FAMILY CHARADRIIDÆ

Hind toe absent in most species; tarsus usually reticulate, sometimes scutellate.

109. OEDICNÉMUS (Thick-knee). Bill stout, straight, longer than the head, slightly compressed towards the end; nostrils in the middle of the bill, narrow, with the aperture in front, pervious; toes three, united by a membrane as far as the first joint; wings as in the last. Page 239

110. CURSORIUS (Courser). Bill shorter than the head, depressed at the base, slightly curved, pointed; nostrils basal, oval, covered by a little protuberance. Legs long, slender; toes three, very short, divided nearly to the base, inner toe half the length of the middle one; its claw serrated; claws very short; wings moderate; first primary nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in the wing. Page 240

111. CHARÁDRIUS (Plover). Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, somewhat swollen towards the tip; nasal channel reaching from the base through two-thirds of the bill, covered by a membrane; nostrils basal, very narrow; tarsi moderate, slender; toes three, the outer and middle connected by a short membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest. Page 240

112. SQUATÁROLA (Grey Plover). Bill shorter than the head, straight, swollen and hard towards the tip; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the membrane of a long groove; legs slender; outer and middle toe connected by a short membrane, hind toe rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, not touching the ground; wings long, pointed; first primary longest. Page 242

113. EUDROMIAS (Dotterel). Bill shorter than head, slender, compressed; nasal channel reaching about half length of bill. Wings moderate; inner secondaries much longer than in Charádrius. Page 244

114. ÆGIALITIS (Ringed and Kentish Plovers). Bill much shorter than head, slender, straight to end of nasal channel, which extends beyond middle of bill, then slightly raised, but decurved at tip; wings long, pointed. Page 245

115. VANELLUS (Lapwing). Wings large, quills broad and rounded, the fourth and fifth primaries longest. In other respects resembling Squatárola. Page 247

116. HÆMÁTOPUS (Oyster Catcher). Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, forming a wedge; legs moderate, stout; toes three, bordered by a narrow membrane; wings long; first primary longest. Page 248

117. STRÉPSILAS (Turnstone). Bill short, thickest at the base and tapering; nostrils basal, narrow, pervious; legs moderate; three front toes connected at the base by a membrane, fourth rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, touching the ground with its tip. Page 250

FAMILY SCOLOPACIDÆ (SNIPES, ETC.)

Bill long and slender; toes four, the hind one weak and elevated, very rarely wanting.

118. RECURVIROSTRA (Avocet). Bill very long, slender, weak, much curved upwards, pointed; legs long, slender; front toes connected as far as the second joint; hind toe very small. Page 252

119. PHALÁROPUS (Phalarope). Bill as long as the head, slender, weak, depressed and blunt; front toes connected as far as the first joint, and bordered by a lobed and slightly serrated membrane; hind toe not bordered. Page 253

120. SCÓLOPAX (Woodcock). Bill long, compressed, superior ridge elevated at base of mandible, prominent. Legs rather short, anterior toes almost entirely divided. Page 254

121. GALLINÁGO (Snipe). Bill very long; legs rather long and slender; anterior toes divided to the base. Page 256

122. CALIDRIS (Sanderling). Bill as long as the head, slender, straight, soft, and flexible, dilated towards the end; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the long nasal groove which reaches to the tip; legs slender; toes three, scarcely connected by a membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest. Page 260

123. TRINGA (Sandpiper, Knot, Dunlin, Stint). Bill as long as the head or a little longer, straight or slightly curved, soft and flexible, dilated, and blunt towards point; both mandibles grooved along sides; nostrils lateral wings moderately long, pointed, first quill longest; legs moderately long; three toes in front, divided to origin; one behind, small, articulated upon tarsus. Page 361

124. MACHÉTES (Ruff). Bill straight, as long as the head, dilated and smooth at the tip; nasal channel reaching to nearly the end of the bill; nostrils basal; first and second primaries longest; toes four, the outer and middle connected as far as the first joint; neck of the male in spring furnished with a ruff. Page 266