49. HETERACTITIS. 



449 



c 3 , (P. 6 2 ad. sk. 



e\ 6 ad. sk. 



f, f. Ad. sk. 



A 3 , t\ Ad. sk. 

 ft 8 . $ ad. sk. 



P. 2 ad. sk. 



Chamieuros, Peruvian Ama- 

 zons, Sept., Oct. (E. Bart- 

 lett). 



Cosnipata, Peru, Oct. 6 (H. 

 Whitely). 



Pernambuco, Brazil ( If". A. 

 Forbes). 



Pahia. 



Chapada, Matto Grosso, Nov. 

 L'l (Mrs. H. If. Smith). 



Campana, PueiK s Avres. 

 Dec. --50. 



Seebohni Coll. 



Tweeddale Coll. 



Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Purchased. 

 Salvin-Godman Coll. 



II. Durnford, Esq. 

 [C.]. 



49. HETERACTITIS. 



Type. 



Heteroscelus, Baird, B. N. Amer. p. 734 (1858, nee Lath.) . II. incanus. 

 Heteractitis, Stejn. Auk, i. p. 236 (1884: nom. emend.) . . H. incanus. 



Range. From N.W. America and Eastern Siberia south to Japan 

 and China, the Malayan Archipelago and Australia, as well as 

 throughout the islands of the Pacific, to the Sandwich Islands and 

 the Galapagos. 



Key to the Species *. 



a. Nasal groove not reaching much beyond the half of 

 the upper mandible and falling short of the tip by 

 - 7 inch; tarsus plated behind; centre of breast 

 and abdomen white in summer plumage, and not 



barred brevipes, p. 



b. Nasal groove reaching to within the terminal third 



449. 



of the upper mandible and falling short of the 

 tip by no more than 0'5 inch ; tarsus reticulated 

 behind, seldom with plates ; centre of breast and 

 abdomen thickly barred with dusky grey like the 

 rest of the under surface incanm, p. 453. 



1. Heteractitis brevipes. 



Trynga irlareola (nee Linn.), Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 194, 



tab. lx. (1811, pt.)., 

 Totanus brevipes, Vieill. N. Diet. (THist. Nat. vi. p. 410 (1816) ; 



Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 573 (1846) ; Pucker. Rev. et May. de Zool. 



* Although the difference in the extent of the nasal groove appears at first 

 sight to be structural, and therefore of generic importance, I have found the 

 utmost difficulty in separating the two species, as there is great variation in 

 the character of the nasal groove, aud it is by no means always of the same 

 length. The same may be said of the scaling on the tarsus, for, whereas 

 most of the specimens of H. incanus have the hinder side reticulated, some 

 few individuals have it partly scaled and partly reticulated. As the two forms 

 are found together in some of their summer (Bering Island; Bonin Islands), 

 and again in some of their winter haunts (Australia), it may be that they inter- 

 breed, which would account for the inconstancy of their characters. 



vol. xxiv. 2 e 



