BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 19 



Bill shorter than head, moderately stout to very stout, its depth at 

 anterior end of nostril equal to or a little less than one -fourth {Q^ . 

 cedicnemus) to more than one-fourth {CE. histnatus and (E. domin- 

 icensis) the length of exposed culmen, the latter about as long as 

 middle toe with claw, straight and inclined downward anteriorly as 

 far as anterior end of nostril, then slight convex; gonys shorter than 

 mandibidar rami, much shorter than distance from tip of maxilla to 

 anterior end of nostril, faintly convex, ascending terminally; nasal 

 fossae broad, occupied by membraneous integument, the nostrils 

 in lower anterior portion, longitudinal and narrow, or slit-like (in 

 CE. cedicnemus), or slightly oblique and rather broadly oval (in 

 (E. histnatus and CE. dominicensis) ; malar and frontal antiae on 

 same vertical line, but mental antia mu^ch anterior to them, about on 

 line with posterior end of nostril. Wing moderate, rather pointed, 

 the longest primaries exceeding distal secondaries by much less 

 than half the length of wing {(E. histriatus and CE. dominicensis) 

 to nearly half its length CE. oedicnemus) ; three outer primaries 

 longest and subequal {CE. histnatus and CE. dominicensis) or the 

 outermost longest {CE. cedicnemus). Tail about half as long as 

 wing, graduated for more than one-fifth its length {CE. histnatus 

 and CE . dominicensis) or less than one-fifth (ffi. cedicnemus). Tarsus 

 more than one-third {CE. histriatus and CE. dominicensis) to less than 

 one-third {CE. cedicnemus) as long as wing, two and a haK {CE. cedic- 

 nemus) to nearly tliree times {CE. histnatus and CE. dominicensis) as 

 long as middle toe without claw, covered all round with hexagonal 

 scales, these having a regular transverse arrangement on lower part 

 of the acrotarsium; bare portion of tibia shorter than middle toe 

 with claw {GE. cedicnemus) to decidedly longer {CE. histnatus and 

 CE. dominicensis), scaled in same manner as tarsus; outer and inner 

 toes, successively, decidedly shorter than middle toe; hallux absent; 

 space between outer and middle toes webbed as far as first articulation 

 of the latter, that between inner and middle toes with a very small 

 web at base. 



Coloration. — Upper parts streaked with brownish buff or buffy 

 brown, grayish brown and dusky; under parts of body mostly plain 

 dull white or buffy white; tail with a blackish terminal band and one 

 or more wliite subtcrminal bands. 



Range. — ^Temperate and tropical portions of Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa; tropical America, from southern Mexico to Amazonia and 

 western Peiai; island of Haiti, Greater iVntilles. (About ten species, 

 of which only three are American.) 



It is probable that the American species require generic separation 

 from CEdicnemus proper, since there are several marked differences 

 in external structure, as indicated in the above description. 



