Читать книгу A Manual of Philippine Birds - Richard C. McGregor - Страница 201

Wings long, flat, and pointed, with narrow, rapidly graduated primaries; inner secondaries long; tail usually quite short; rarely forked (Glareola) or greatly elongated (Parridæ); legs generally long and slender, sometimes extremely so; toes short except in Parridæ, either semipalmate or cleft to the base; lobate in Phalaropodinæ; bill slender, compressed, and covered with soft skin, rarely hard throughout (Arenaria). Members of this order live on the ground in open places, usually near water and many of the species assemble in flocks during the winter months. Eggs three or four, highly colored and much spotted, usually pyriform. The nest, with rare exceptions, is a slight hollow in the ground. The young are downy and able to run within a few hours after leaving the egg. This order includes the sandpipers, plovers, snipes, Acurlews, and their allies.10

Suborders.

 a1. Tail nearly square, never forked; toes and claws not greatly lengthened.b1. Smaller, wing less than 230 mm.; bill small and short or greatly lengthened but never heavy. Charadrii (p. 99)b2. Larger; wing more than 250 mm.; bill moderate in length but powerful; tarsus covered with hexagonal scales. Œdicnemi (p. 154)

 a2. Tail forked, or else the claws very long.b1. Tail forked; gape deeply cleft; claws normal in length. Cursorii (p. 152)b2. Tail not forked, but with two or more lengthened feathers; gape normal; claws extremely long and slender; a sharp spur at bend of wing. Parræ (p. 150)