ff-T 



108 



PIJ.ECOCIAL f4i;ALLATUllES - TJMICOL^R. 



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Cbaradriidae. Size large to very small. Bill slender or siimll, straight, always shorter than 



the tarsus. 

 Anarhynchidae. Size small. Uill slender, curved tn nne side, e(iual to the tai-sus. 

 OldioueinidaB. Size very large (inueh the largest birds of tiie order). Tarsus nearly three 



times as long as the middle toe, covered in front witii liexagonal scales. Plumage very 



plain, conspicuously streaked or striped above. 

 D> Characters much the same as given for section "C,'' hut toes, induiling the hallux, exceed- 

 ingly lengthened, the claws also very much lengthened ; scutellatiou of legs jnuch as in 



the Rallidie. 

 Farridee. Size medium or rather small. Claws very long and compressed, nearly straight, 



tliat of tlie lialJux e(pial to or longer than its digit, linear, and slightly recurved. Bend 



of the wing (head of metacarpus) armed with a sharp conical horny spur. 

 E» Bill exceedingly variable, — short or long, straight, .^lightly recurved, or decidedly decurved, 



but usually more or less expanded laterally at the end, which is more or less sensitive. 



Hind toe usually present, rarely absent. 

 Scolopacidas. Tarsus rounded in front, where clothed with a single row of transverse 



scutellif. 

 F. Bill subulate (except in Phalaropus). Toes either partly webbed, or fringed by a lateral, 



usually lobed. margin. I'lui'iage peculiarly soft and compact for this order, resemliling 



greatly in this resj)ect thuc of the Lowjipetnies. Tarsi compressed, the anterior edge sharp. 

 Pbalaropodidae. Size small ; tai-si and bill rather short, or but moderately lengthened ; toes 



edged with a lateral, usually scalloped, margin. 

 RecurviroBtridae. Si/.e large ; tarsi and bill very long ; toes partly webbed, and without 



scjdlopped margin. 



Family H.T.MAT0P0DID;E.— The Oysteu Catchers. 



Ilcrviatopincr, " G. K. GuAV, 1840." 



IIccmatopcidin(v, "G. B. Gray, 1841;" Handl. III. 1871, 21. 



Ostrakginer, "Kekh. 1849." 



Thi.s family is characterized Ijv the large size of the birds wliich compose it, 

 their long, extremely compressed, almost knife-like and nearly truncate bill ; their 

 robust legs and feet, the former covered in front with hexagonal scales, the latter 

 destitute of a hind toe, and having a well-developed web between the outer 

 and middle toes, at their base. Properly restricted, it includes only the genus 

 Hccmatopus, the characters of which are the same as those of the family. 



Genus H2IMATOPUS, Lixn^us. 



ffwmatopus, LiKX. S. N. ed. 10, 1758, 152 ; ed. 12, 1766, 257 (type, H. ostralegus, LiNN.). 



Ostrahgn, Briss. Orn. V. 1760, 38 (same type). 



Melanibyx, Reich. Handb. 1853, p. xii (type, H. niger, Pai.l.). 



Synopsis of North American Species. 



Com. Chab. Bill bright red in life (dull reddish or yellowish in dried skins) ; head, neck, 

 and moat of upper parts blackish (in some species entire plumage blackish). 



A« Plumage parti-colored (_ichite and blackish). 



1. H. ostralegus. Entire rump white ; back and wings black, like the neck and breast ; iris 



