34 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



16. Tryngites. Size small (a little larger than A ctitis); bill small and slender 

 (shorter than the head, about equal to the middle toe), the lateral groove 

 reaching nearly to the tip ; gape reaching back of the culmen; middle toe 

 more than half as long as the tarsus; inner webs of quills and under 

 primary-coverts beautifully speckled. 



C. 



17. Eurynorhynchus. Size small (among the smallest of the family); bill 

 widely expanded laterally at the end; otherwise, much as in Acto- 

 dromas. 



D. (Numenince.) 



18. Numenius. Size large to very large (wing 7 inches or more); bill long 

 (much longer than tarsus), decidedly decurved or arched. 



Of the above, the following' genera are not represented, so far 

 as known, in the bird-fauna of Illinois: Scolopax, embracing 

 the European Woodcock (S. rusticola), which is merely acci- 

 dental in the Atlantic States; Heteractitis, which embraces 

 two species of Wandering Tatler (If. hinnmx and H. brevipes), 

 belonging to the shores and islands of the Pacific ; and Euryno- 

 rhynchus, including only the remarkable Spoonbill Sandpiper 

 (E. pygmfpu*), a bird of eastern Asia, which has occurred accidental- 

 ly in Alaska. 



SUBFAMILY Scolopacinae. 



CHAR. Bill straight, longer than the tarsus and middle toe; back of tarsus with a con- 

 tinuous row of transverse scutellaB. Ears situated directly underneath the eyes; tip of up- 

 per mandible thickened, with cutting-edges brought near together; plumage the same at 

 all stages and seasons. 



GENUS PHILOHELA GRAY. 



Philohela GEAT, List Genera, 1841, 90. Type, Scolopax minor GMEL. 



CHAR. Body very full, and head, bill, and eyes very large. Tibia short, feathered to 

 joint. Toes cleft to base. Wings short, rounded, the three outer primaries very narrow 

 and much attenuated; the fourth and fifth equal to the longest. Tarsi stout, shorter than 

 the middle toe. Hind claw very short, conical, not extending beyond the toe. Tail of 

 twelve feathers. 



The present genus, embracing a single species, th^ American Woodcock, is much like 

 Scolopax, with the European Woodcock as type, in color and external appearance. The 

 most striking difference is seen in the wings, which are short, rounded; the fourth and 

 fifth primaries longest and the outer three abruptly attenuated; while in Scolopax the 

 wings are long, the first primary longest, and none attenuated. 



Philohela minor Gmel. 



AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 



Popular synonyms. Bog-sucker; Mud Snipe; Blind Snipe. 



Scolopax minor GMEL. S. N. i, 1788, 661. WILS. Am. Orn. vi, 1812, 40, pi. 48, fig. 2.- 

 AUD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 474, pi. 268. 



