Chapter D: RAPTORES. Bill usually powerful, adapted for tearing flesh,

strongly decurved and hooked at the end, furnished with a cere
in which the nostrils open. Feet strongly flexible, with large,
sharp, much curved claws gradually narrowed from base to tip,
convex on the sides, that of the second toe larger than that of
the fourth toe, and the hinder not smaller than the second one.
Feet never permanently zygodactyle, though fourth toe often
versatile; anterior toes commonly with one basal web; hallux
considerable and completely incumbent (except _Cathartidæ_).
Legs feathered to the suffrago or beyond. Rectrices twelve
(with rare exceptions); primaries sinuate or emarginate (with
rare exceptions). Sternum singly or doubly notched or
fenestrate. Palate desmognathous. Carotids double. Syrinx
wanting or developed with only one pair of muscles. Altricial;
the young being weak and helpless, yet ptilopædic, being downy
at birth.

E. COLUMBÆ. Bill straight, compressed, horny at the vaulted
tip, which is separated by a constriction from the soft
membranous basal portion. Nostrils beneath a soft, tumid valve.
Tomia of the mandibles mutually apposed. Frontal feathers
sweeping in strongly convex outline across base of upper
mandible. Legs feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux
incumbent (with few exceptions), and front toes rarely webbed
at base. Tarsus with small scutella in front, or oftener
reticulate, the envelope rather membranous than corneous. Head
very small. Plumage without after-shafts. One pair of syringeal
muscles. Sternum doubly notched, or notched and fenestrate on
each side. Carotids double. Palate schizognathous. Monogamous,
and highly altricial and psilopædic.

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.

H. HERODIONES. Tibiæ naked below. Legs and neck much lengthened
in corresponding ratio. Toes long, slender, never coherent at
base, where cleft, or with movable basal webbing. Hallux (as
compared with that of the preceding and following group)
lengthened, free, and either perfectly incumbent or but little
elevated, with a large claw, giving a foot of insessorial
character. Wings commonly obtuse, but broad and ample, without
marked re-entrance on posterior border, the intermediate
remiges not being much abbreviated. Tail short and
few-feathered. Head narrow, conico-elongated, gradually
contracting to the large, stout base of the bill; the loral and
orbital region, or the whole head, naked. Gape of the bill
deeply fissured; tip usually acute; tomia hard and cutting.
Bill conico-elongate, always longer than the head, stout and
firm. Nostrils small, placed high up, with entirely bony and
horny, or only slightly membranous, surroundings. Pterylosis
nearly peculiar in the presence, almost throughout the group,
of powder-down tracts, rarely found elsewhere; pterylæ very
narrow. Palate desmognathous. Carotids double. Altricial.
Comprising the Herons, Storks, Ibises, etc. (not Cranes).
Species usually of large stature, with compressed body and very
long S-bent neck; perching and nesting usually in trees,
bushes, or other high places near water; young hatching weak,
scarcely feathered, and reared in the nest.