432 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



FAMILY SCOLOPACIDJE. THE SNIPES. 



Legs with transverse scutellae before and behind ; toes not margined broadly to 

 the tips, with or without basal membrane; hind toe generally present; bill generally 

 longer than the head, the groove extending beyond the middle. 



Sub-Family SCOLOPACIN^. 



Bill swollen at the end, and covered almost to the tip with a soft skin, the edges 

 only of the rather vaulted tip horny ; the end of the upper bill generally bent a 

 little over the tip of lower; the jaw-bone in typical genera finely porous, and per- 

 forated by vessels and nerves, imparting a high degree of sensibility to the bill, 

 enabling it to find food in the mud; after death, the end of bill is usually pitted; 

 legs rather stout; the naked portion of the tibia much abbreviated; the hind toe 

 well developed and generally present ; the toes usually without basal membrane 

 (except in Macrorhamphus, &c.). 



PHILOHELA, G. R. GRAY. 



Philohela, GRAY, List of Genera (1841). Gmelin. (Type Scolqpax minor.) 

 Body very full, and head, bill, and eyes very large ; tibia short, feathered to the 

 joint; toes cleft to base; wings short, rounded; first three primaries very narrow, 

 and much attenuated ; the fourth and fifth equal and longest ; tarsi stout, shorter 

 than the middle toe ; hind nail very short, conical, not extending beyond the toe*; 

 tail of twelve feathers. 



The present genus, embracing a single species, the American Woodcock, is much 

 like Scolopax, with the European Woodcock as type, in color and external appear- 

 ance. The most striking difference is seen in the wings, which are short, rounded, 

 the fourth and fifth primaries longest, and the outer three attenuated ; while in Scolo- 

 pax the wings are long, the first primary longest and more attenuated. 



PHILOHELA MINOR. Gray. 

 The American Woodcock. 



Scolqpax minor, Wilson. Am. Orn., VI. (1812) 40. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. (1835) 

 474. 



Rusticola minor, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 194. 



Scolopax (microptera) minor, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 194. 



Philokda minor, Gray. List Genera (1841). 



DESCRIPTION. 



Bill long, compressed, punctulated and corrugated near the end; upper mandible 

 longer than the under, and fitted to it at the tip ; wings moderate, three first quills 

 very narrow; tail short; legs moderate; eyes inserted unusually distant from the 



