64 BULLETIiSr 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



i. Culmen more than one-sixth as long as wing, more than two-thirds 



as long as tarsus, the bill very stout PagoUa (p. 107). 



ii. Culmen less than one-sixth as long as wing, less than two-thirds 

 as long as tarsus, the bill slender or small . Charadrius (p. 114). 

 dd. Hallux present (well-developed but small) ; culmen much shorter than mid- 

 dle toe without claw; upper parts unicolored Zonibyx (extralimital)." 



bh. Tarsus shorter than middle toe ■with claw Plixvianelius (extralimital).'' 



Genus VANELLUS Brisson. 



Vanellus Brisson, Orn., v, 1760, 94. (T\T)e, by tautonymy, Tringa vanelhis 



Linnaeus.) 

 Gavia (not of Forster, 1788, nor of Boie, 1822) Gloger, Hand- und Hilfsbuch, i, 



1842, 433. (Type, Tringa vanellus Linnaeus.) 



Large Charadriidse (wing 211-233 mm.) with a slender, recurved 

 occipital crest, without obvious or with rudimentary wing-spurs, and 

 with color of upper parts partly metallic. 



Bill relatively small and slender, much shorter than head, the 

 exposed culmen about as long as middle toe without claw; nasal fossa 

 extending for about two-thirds the length of maxilla. Wing large, 

 pointed, the longest primaries exceeding distal secondaries by much 

 more than one-third the length of wing, and extending decidedly 

 beyond tips of longest tertials; second or second and third primaries 

 (from outside) longest, the first (outermost) shorter than third. Tail 

 nearly half as long as wing, truncate or very slight emarginate (the 

 middle pair of rectrices slightly shorter than the rest). Tarsus about 

 one-fifth as long as wing, covered all round with small hexagonal 

 scales, these larger in front; bare portion of tibia about as-long as 

 culmen; middle toe, without claw, much more than half as long as 

 tarsus, the outer and inner toes, successively, decidedly shorter; 

 hallux present but small, its claw well-developed, but straight; a 

 small web between basal phalanges of outer and middle toes. 



Coloration. — Adults with pileum, a broad jugular area, primaries 

 and distal portion of tail black; general color of upper parts moderately 

 metallic greenish and purplish; under parts and proximal portion of 

 tail white, the tail-coverts cinnamomeous; sexes alike. 



Range. — Europe and northern Asia, south in winter to China, 

 northern Africa, northern India, etc.; accidental in eastern North 

 America. (Monotypic.) 



a Zonihyx Reichenbach, Handb. (Av. Syst. Nat.), 1853, p. xviii (type, by original 

 designation and monotypy , Vanellus cincta 'Lesson= Charadrius modestus Lichteustein.) 

 (Southern South America; monotypic.) 



b Pluvianellus Jacquin and Pucheran, Voy. Pole Sud, Zool., iii, 1853, 124 (type, by 

 original designation, P. soaa6i/is Jacquin and Pucheran). (Southern South America; 

 monotypic.) 



This genus I have not been able to examine. It may, possibly, not belong to the 

 true Charadriidse, as here restricted. 



