612 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLJE. 



Young : Mantle asliy-brown, each feather edged with wliitish ; wings black, but some of the 

 quills white-tipped, the edge of the wing white, the coverts edged with pale ochre. Tail not 



80 pearly gray as in the 

 adults, with some irreg- 

 ular dusky markings. 

 Legs probably different 

 (skins afford no crite- 

 liou). Chick, in down : 

 Bill apparently blackish ; 

 legs pale. Under parts 

 white ; above, prettily mottled with black, browai, and tawny 

 or orange. U. S. generally, like the avocet rare eastward, 

 abundant in the west, rather more southerly than the avocet. 

 Nest at the watei-'s-edge or on heaped vegetation just above 

 the surface in shallow water ; eggs 4, pyriform, 1.60 to 1.85 X 

 1.15 to 1.25 ; greenish-drab or pale brownish-olive to dark 



„ .„_ ^, , , , „,.,. ochraceous, boldly marked all over with spots and splashes of 

 Fig. 427. — Black-necked Stilt, ' j r r 



I nat. size. (From Sclater. ) blackisli-brown. 



41. Family PHALAROPODID JE : Phalaropes. 



This is likewise a small family ; the three species comprising it resemble sandpipers, but 

 are immediately distinguished by the lobate feet ; the toes are furaished with plain or scalloped 

 membranes, like those of coots and grebes, but not so broad. The body is depressed, and th(! 

 under plumage tliick and duck-like to resist water, on which the birds swim with perfect ease 

 and grace. The wings and tail are like those of ordinary sandpipers ; the tarsi are much com- 

 pressed ; there is basal webbing of the toes besides the marginal membrane ; the bill, and some 

 other details of form, differ in each of the three genera. These birds inhabit the northern por- 

 tions of both hemispheres, two of them at least breeding only in boreal regions, but they all 

 wander far southward in winter. There are but three species, one peculiar to America, the 



others of general distribution. 



Analysis of Genera. 



Membranes plain ; bill very slender, subulate Steganopus 226 



Membranes scalloped ; bill very slender, subulate LoUpes 227 



Membranes scalloped; bill stouter, flattened, witb lancet-shaped tip Phalaropus 228 



226. STEGAN'OPUS. (Gr. artyavcmovs, stecfanopous, web-foot.) Fringe-FOOT Phalakopes. 

 Bill long, equalling the tarsus, exceeding the head, extremely slender, terete and acute. Culmen 

 and gonys broad and depressed. Lateral 

 grooves long and narrow, reaching nearly 

 to tip of bill. Interramal space narrow and 

 very short, exteudipg only half way to end 



of bill. Nostrils at extreme base of bill. ^^^^^'^^ 



Wings of moderate length. Tail short, 

 deeply doubly-emarginate ; legs greatly 

 elongated; tibiae bare for a considerable 

 distance ; tarsus exceeding middle toe. Fig. 428. — Head of Wilson's Phalarope, nat. size. (Ad 



Toes long and slender, broadly margined "**• ^^^- ^- ^■'> 



with an even, unscalloped membrane, united but for a brief space basally. Claws moderately 

 long, arched, and acute. 

 602. S. wil'soni. (To A. Wilson. Fig. 428.) Wilson's Phalarope. Adult 9 , in breeding 

 dress : Bill and feet black. Crown of head pale ash, passing into white along a narrow stripe 



