F. GALLINÆ. Bill generally short, stout, convex, with an obtuse vaulted tip, corneous except in the nasal fossa, and without constriction in its continuity. Nostrils scaled or feathered. Tomia of upper mandible overlapping. Frontal feathers forming re-entrant outline at the base of upper mandible. Legs usually feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux elevated, with few exceptions (e. g. _Cracidæ_ and _Megapodidæ_), smaller than the anterior toes, occasionally wanting (as in the Hemipods). Tarsus, when not feathered, generally broadly scutellate. Front toes commonly webbed at base. Claws blunt, little curved. Wings strong, short, and concavo-convex. Rectrices commonly more than twelve. Head small. Plumage usually after-shafted. Carotids double (except _Turnicidæ_ and _Megapodidæ_). No intrinsic syringeal muscles. Sternum very deeply, generally doubly, notched. Palate schizognathous. Chiefly polygamous. Præcocial and ptilopædic. G. LIMICOLÆ. Tibiæ bare of feathers for a variable (sometimes very slight) distance above the suffrago. Legs commonly lengthened, sometimes excessively so, and neck usually produced in corresponding ratio. Tarsi scutellate or reticulate. Toes never coherent at base; cleft, or united for a short distance by one or two small movable basal webs (palmate only in _Recurvirostra_, lobate only in _Phalaropodidæ_). Hallux always reduced, obviously elevated and free, or wanting; giving a foot of cursorial character. Wings, with few exceptions, lengthened, pointed, and flat; the inner primaries and outer secondaries very short, forming a strong re-entrance on the posterior border of the wing. Tail shorter than the wing, of simple form, and of few feathers, except in certain Snipes. Head globose, sloping rapidly down to the contracted base of the bill, completely feathered (except _Philomachus_ ♂). Gape of bill short and constricted; tip usually obtuse; bill weak and flexible. Rostrum commonly lengthened, and more or less terete and slender; membranous wholly or in great part, without hard cutting edges. Nostrils narrow, placed low down, entirely surrounded with soft skin; nasal fossæ extensive. Palate schizognathous. Sternum usually doubly, sometimes singly, notched. Carotids double. Pterylosis of a particular pattern. Nature præcocial and ptilopædic. Comprising the “Plover-Snipe” group; species of medium and small size, with never extremely compressed or depressed body; more or less aquatic, living on plains and in open places, usually near water, nesting on the ground, where the young run freely at birth.