242 AVES: LIMICOLA. — XXXVIII. 
greenish. L.14. W. 7}. T. 3}. Ts. 2. S. States, straying N. 
to N. E..and Wis. (Lat., helmeted.) 
381. FULICA Linneus. (Lat., coot.) 
749. F. americana (Gmelin). Coot.: Mup Hen. Dark slate 
color or sooty, with white on wings and crissum ; bill pale in adult, 
with a brown spot near tip; frontal shield dark brown. L. 14. 
W.8. TT. 2. N. Am., abundant in reedy swamps; an excellent 
swimmer. 
OrpeER XXXVII. LIMICOLZE. (Tue SHoRE-BIRDs.) 
This division of the old order of Gralle includes the allies of 
the Plover and Snipe, as distinguished from the nearly related 
Cranes and Rails on the one hand and the remotely related 
Herons and Ibises on the other. Some of the external characters 
of the group are the following. Tibia more or less naked below; 
legs long; hind toe free and elevated, often wanting. Head glo- 
bose, abruptly sloping to the base of the bill; completely feathered 
(except in the male of Pavoncella); gape short; bill weak, flexible, 
more or less soft-skinned and sensitive at tip in most cases, adapted 
for probing in the mud; nostrils slit-like, surrounded by soft skin. 
Schizognathous; precocial. 
The Limicole are all birds of small size, abundant on sandy 
shores and in marshes. In spite of the difference in appearance 
and habits, these birds have much in common with the gulls, in 
their anatomy. (Lat., limus, mud; colo, I inhabit.) 
Families of Limicole. 
a. Toes lobate, with distinct lateral membranes ; tarsus extremely compressed. 
PHALAROPODID4, 143. 
aa. Toes not lobate; webbed or not. 
b. Tarsus more than twice middle toe with claw; naked part of tibia much 
longer than middle toe with claw; feet palmate or not. 
RECURVIROSTRID#, 144. 
bb. Tarsus less than twice middle toe with claw; naked portion of tibia 
shorter than middle toe with claw; toes cleft or semipalmate. 
c. Tarsus scutellate in front. 
d. Bill slender, with a bluntish ia soft-skinned and sensitive through- 
tate (nay eh eden ey ee » « » » SCOLOPACID at, 145. 
dd. Bill stout, hard, BS me ana dee shaped at tip (in our species). 
APHRIZID&, 146. 
cc. Tarsus reticulate in front. 
e. Bill not longer than tarsus, not compressed; contracted behind the 
horny tip, shaped somewhat like a pigeon’s bill. 
CHARADRIID&, 147. 
ee. Bill longer than tarsus, much compressed at tip. 
H£&MATOPODIDA, 148. 
