108 PRyECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^. 



Charadriidae. Size large to very siuall. Bill slender or small, straight, always shorter than 



the laisus. 

 Anarhynchidae. Size .small. Bill slender, curved to one side, equal to the tarsus. 

 CEdicuemidae. Size A'ery large (much the largest birds ot the order). Tarsus nearly three 



times as long as the middle toe, covered in front with hexagonal scales. Plumage very 



plain, conspicuously streaked or striped above. 



D. Characters much the same as given for section " C." but toes, including the hallux, exceed- 



ingly lengthened, the claws also very much lengthened ; scutellation of legs inuch as in 

 the Rallidte. 

 Parridae. Size medium or rather small. Claws very long and compressed, nearly straight, 

 that of the hallux equal to or longer than its digit, liuear, and slightly recurved. Bend 

 of the wing (head of metacarpus) armed with a sharp conical horny spur. 



E. Bill exceedingly variable, — short (U- long, straight, slightly recurved, or decidedly decurved, 



but usually more or less expanded laterally at the end, which is more or less sensitive. 

 Hind toe usually present, rarely absent. 

 Scolopacidse. Tarsus rounded in front, where clothed with a .single row of transverse 

 scutelke. 



F. Bill subulate (except in Phalaropus). Toes either partly webbed, or fringed by a lateral, 



usually lobed, margin. Plumage peculiarly soft and compact for this order, resembling 



greatly in this respect that of the Longipennes. Tarsi compressed, the anterior edge sharp. 

 Phalaropodidae. Size small ; tarsi and bill rather short, or but moderately lengthened ; toes 



edged with a lateral, usually scalloped, margin. 

 Recurvirostridae. Size large ; tarsi and bill very long ; toes partly webbed, and without 



scallopped margin. 



Family H.^MATOPCJDIDrE. — The Oyster Catchers. 



Hcematopince, " G. R. Gkay, 1840." 



HccmatojMdince, "G. R. Gray, 1841;" Handl. III. 1871, 21. 



Ostralcgince, "Reich. 1849." 



This family is characterized by the large size of the birds which compose it, 

 their long, extremely compressed, almost knife-like and nearly truncate bill ; their 

 robust legs and feet, the former covered in front with hexagonal scales, the latter 

 destitute of a hind toe, and having a well-developed web between the outer 

 and middle toes, at their base. Properly restricted, it includes only the genus 

 Hcematoims, the characters of which are the same as those of the family. 



Genus H^MATOPUS, Linn^us. 



nccmatnjms, Lixx. S. N. cd. 10, 1758, 152 ; ed. 12, 1766, 257 (type, H. ostralegus, Linn.). 



Ostrahga, Brass. Orn. V. 1760, 38 (same type). 



Melanibyx, Reich. Handb. 1853, p. xii (type, H. niger, Pall.). 



Synopsis of North American Species. 



Com. Char. Bill bright red in life (dull reddish or yellowish in dried skins) ; head, neck, 

 and most of upper parts blackish (in some species entire plumage blackish). 



A. Plumage parti-colored (tvhite and blackish). 



1 . H. ostralegus. Entire rump white ; back and wings black, like the neck and breast ; iris 



