784 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOL^. 



scolopacine ; for Aphriza may be characterized as a Plover in the guise of a Sandpiper, while 

 Arenaria is a Sandpiper of Oyster-catcher affinities. The name of the present family might 

 preferably have been Arennriidcc, derived from the older and better known one of its two com- 

 ponent genera ; but Aphrizida has the sanction of the A. 0. U. The two genera agree in 

 structure of feet, which are 4-toed, with anterior toes cleft to base and tarsi scutellate in front, 

 and difier from each other in form of bill, as in the following 



Annlijsis oj Subfamilies. 



Bill like a Plover's, with evident dertrum, but both mandibles long-grooved. Tarsus longer than bill. Tail square. 



Aphrizino! 

 Bill like an Oyster-catcher's, but short and sharp. Bill and tarsus nearly equal. Tail rounded . . . Arenariinue 



Subfamily APHRiZIN/E: Surf-birds. 



APHRrZA. (Gr. dcppo':, aphros, sea-foam ; (da>, zao, I live : badly formed, but euphonious.) 

 Surf-birds. Plover-billed Turnstones. Bill pluvialine, shorter than head, stout at 

 base, contracted in continuity, with enlarged horny termination ; both mandibles deeply grooved 

 to their horny ends ; nostrils subbasal, close to commissure, linear, perforate ; feathers reaching 

 equally far forward on side of each mandible, much farther in interramal space. Wings very 

 long and acute, folding to or beyond end of tail ; 1st primary longest, all rapidly graduated ; 

 flowing inner quills not nearly reaching point of wing. Tail very short, square (emarginate), 

 less than J as long as wing, 12-feathered. Feet scolopacine, with well-developed hind toe ; short 

 and stout, much as in Arenaria; tibiae naked below, but feathers falling to sufFrago; tarsus 

 little longer than middle toe and claw, reticulate, scutellate in front ; toes cleft to base, lateral 

 of equal lengths, reaching base of middle claw ; inner edge of middle claw dilated and jagged. 

 General character of plumage, in its pattern of coh)ratiou and seasonal changes, as in Sandpipers. 

 One species ; a remarkable isolated form, much like a Plover, and connecting CharadrvidcB 

 with the next family by close relationships with Arenaria, but with hind toe well developed, 

 as usual in Sandpipers, and general appearance rather sandpiper-like than plover-like. 

 A. virga'ta. (Lat. virgata, striped. Fig. 537.) Surf-bird. In summer: Dark ashy- 

 brown, streaked with whitish on head and neck, varied with rufous and black on back and 

 wings. Upper tail-coverts and basal half or more of tail pure white ; rest of tail black, white- 

 tipped. Under parts white or ashy-white, variously marked with brownish-black ; throat and 

 fore breast narrowly streaked, the streaks changing on breast to curved bars, and there very 

 profuse, on other under parts sparse and spotty. Bases and shafts of primaries, tips of most 

 of them, greater part of secondaries, and tips of greater coverts white; exposed portions of pri- 

 maries blackish. Bill black, flesh-colored at base below; legs greenish-yellow. In winter: 

 Plumage of head, neck, breast, and upper parts nearly uniform dusky brown, unvaried with 

 white or reddish, but with obsoletely darker shaft-lines; white under parts slightly spotty; 

 wings and tail as in summer, showing the same conspicuous white areas. Length 9.00-10.00; 

 extent 17.00 or more; wing 6. .50-7. 00; tail 2.75; bill 1.00; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 

 ].10. Varies greatly in plumage with age and season, but unmistakable in any guise; quite 

 young birds are white below, only streaked on the breast, and the dark gray feathers of the 

 upper parts are more or less edged with white. Extensively dispersed over coasts and islands 

 of the Pacific ; along whole western coast of America, N. to Bering's Strait, S. to Chili. Breed- 

 ing unknown. 



Subfamily ARENARIIN>E: Turnstones. 



The character of the subfamily is constructed to exclude Aj^kriza. (See p. 783, under 

 AphrizidfP ) Pi-obably Flitvicr.icllus sociabiUs belongs here (see p. 7G8). 

 ARENA'RIA. (Lat. arenaria, adj. fem., relating to sand, sandy; arenaria, noun, a sand- 

 pit; arena, sand, a sandy jilace, sea-beach, arena. This is the genus commonly called Strep- 



