612 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLAL. 
Young: Mantle ashy-brown, each feather edged with whitish; wings black, but some of the 
quills white-tipped, the edge of the wing white, the coverts edged with pale ochre. Tail not 
so pearly gray as in the 
adults, with some irreg- 
ular dusky markings. 
Legs probably different 
(skins afford no crite- 
rion). Chick, in down: 
Bill apparently blackish ; 
legs pale. Under parts 
white ; above, prettily mottled with black, brown, and tawny 
or orange. U. 8. generally, like the avocet rare eastward, 
abundant in the west, rather more southerly than the avocet. 
Nest at the water’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, % 
3 nat. size. (From Sclater. ) blackish-brown. 
41. Family PHALAROPODIDA:: 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 furnished with plain or scalloped 
membranes, like those of coots and grebes, but not so broad. The body is depressed, and the 
under plumage thick 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 Biter ocd Uarah hs, Oboe Sed amas Apia ice AA PN hehe BOLO CUED OS ema Oy 
Membranes scalloped; bill very slender, subulate . . . . +--+... - 2 Lobipes 227 
Membranes scalloped; bill stouter, flattened, with lancet-shaped tip . . . . . - . . . Phalaropus 228 
226. STEGAN/OPUS. (Gr. oreyavérous, steganopous, web-foot.) FRINGH-FOOT PHALAROPES. 
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, extending 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; tibia bare for a considerable 
distance; tarsus exceeding middle toe. Frc. 428.— Head of Wilson’s Phalarope, nat. size. (Ad 
Toes long and slender, broadly margined 4t- del. E. C.) 
with an even, unsealloped membrane, united but for a brief space basally. Claws moderately 
long, arched, and acute. 
602. S. wil/soni. (To A. Wilson. Fig. 428.) Wrson’s Puataropr. Adult 9, in breeding 
dress: Bill and feet black. Crown of head pale ash, passing into white along a narrow stripe 
