SCOLOPACID®, SNIPE, ETC.—GEN. 201. 251 
represented in this country are the Limicola platyrhyncha, the peculiarity of which 
is expressed in its name; and the Hurinorhynchus pygmceus, a wonderful and 
exceedingly rare species, in which the bill is expanded and flattened at the end, 
somewhat as in the spoonbill. The singular Philomachus pugnax should perhaps 
rather come here than among 
d. The tattlers, with which it is ranged, beyond. In this, the largest and most 
varied group, the bill has comparatively little of the sensitiveness of that of all the 
foregoing, and the gape is longer, extending obviously beyond the base of the 
culmen, and sometimes to nearly below the eyes. It varies much in length and 
shape, but it is wswally longer than the head, and very slender, not often grooved 
to the. tip, and is either straight, or bent slightly upward. The body and its 
members are commonly more elongate than in the foregoing, the toes have a basal 
web or two, and the hinder is always present. The tail is usually barred. They are 
noisy, restless birds of the marshes and sand-flats and mud-bars of estuaries, and 
apparently do not probe for food to any extent; they gain their name from their 
harsh voice. The yellowshanks is a typical example of the group; most of the 
species cluster close about this type, and ought to go in the single genus Totanus. 
Gen. 217, 219, 220, are another slight group. The only extra-limital form is the 
Prosobonia leucoptera, of the Sandwich Islands, a curious species, apparently near 
220. There are about 18 species in all, universally distributed. Finally, 
e. The curlews (gen. 222) are distinguished by the downward curvature, extreme 
slenderness, and usually great length of the bill, with the slight scutellation of the 
tarsus. In size and general appearance they are near the godwits; they inhabit 
all parts of the world. They all belong to the genus Nwmenius, which has about a 
dozen species — excepting the Tbidorhyncha struthersii of Asia, which is a three-toed 
curlew, not showing the coloration characteristic of the rest. 
201. Genus PHILOHELA Gray. 
American Woodcock. Bogsucker. First three primaries attenuate and 
faleate; wings short; when closed, the quills hidden by the coverts and 
Fic. 162. Woodcock; with attenuate primaries. 
tertiaries; tibise feathered to the joint; tarsi shorter than middle toe, 
scutellate before and behind ; toes slender, free to the base ; bill much longer 
than the head, stout and deep at base, grooved nearly its whole length, the tip 
knobbed ; gape very short and narrow; ear under the eye, which is set in the 
back upper corner of the head; colors above variegated and harmoniously 
blended black, brown, gray and russet ; below pale warm brown of variable 
