EREUNETES. 167 



Genus EREUNETES. 



The genus Ereunetes was established in 1811 by Illiger, in his ( Pro- 

 dromus Systematis Mammalium et Avium/ p. 262, to contain the Semi- 

 palmated Sandpiper, E. pusillus, which is the type. 



It only contains four species, which are intermediate between the 

 genera Totanus and Tringa, agreeing with the former in having the outer 

 and middle toes united by a web at the base, and with the latter in having 

 a soft Snipe-like bill. In their pointed wings, and tarsus scutellated both 

 in front and at the back, and in possessing a hind toe, they do not differ 

 from either of these genera. 



Like the allied species, they have made sport for the genus-makers, who 

 have provided each of the four species with a genus of its own. So-called 

 structural characters have been discovered which will at least provide a 

 key to the species, and may be admitted or rejected as of subgeneric value 

 according to the taste of the reader. 



Middle and inner toes cleft") ,, 



f Macrorhamphus. 

 to the base. J 



Pseudoscolopax. | Wing not f our times as 



Middle toe only about half | m lama I long as the tarsus, 

 the length of the tarsus. J 



Ereunetes. 



The two first-mentioned are not unlike Godwits in colour and general 

 appearance, whilst the two latter closely resemble the Stints. 



The range of the genus during the breeding-season extends from Arctic 

 America, across Behring's Straits into Eastern Siberia. In winter it is 

 confined to the Oriental and Neotropical Regions. One species only is 

 an accidental visitor to Europe and the British Islands. 



In their habits and mode of nidification, and in the colour of their eggs, 

 the soft-billed, partially web-footed, Sandpipers do not differ from the 

 species in the allied genera. 



