NUMENIUS. 3 1 7 



Numenius. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway place the Curlews in their family Scolopacida ; 

 an assemblage of birds embracing my subfamilies of TotanincB and Scolopacince, with the 

 exception of the genera Hmmtopus, Himantopus, Phalaropus, and Strepsilas, each of which 

 is elevated by them to the rank of a family. The diagnosis of the genus Numenius, 

 according to these authors, is as follows : — 



ScoLOPACiD^ having a strongly decurved bill, longer than the tarsus and middle toe. 



The objection to this diagnosis is that it excludes two species which have always been 

 admitted to the genus, Numenius borealis and N. minor. What have these poor Curlews 

 done that they should be turned out into the cold ? It is rather remarkable that they are 

 the only Curlews which have neglected to make any attempt to produce pale bars on the 

 inner webs of their primaries. This neglect may be a specific misdemeanour, but can 

 scarcely be regarded as a generic crime ! 



Let us see what Coues can do for us. His diagnosis of the genus Numenius may be 

 tersely expressed as follows : — 



ScoLOPACiD^ having a very long decurved bill, and having the tarsus scutellated in 

 front and reticulated behind. 



This diagnosis is extremely satisfactory, with one exception. It excludes Numenius 

 minor from the genus. This species has the whole of the tarsus unmistakably scutellated, 

 both in front and at the back, and is in every respect a Totanus, except, perhaps, that no 

 species of Totanus has the bill quite so much decurved. The difference in the amount of 

 curvature of bill between Numenius minor and N. phceopus is, however, greater than that 

 between N. minor and Totanus hartrami. Those ornithologists who are still wedded to the 

 rostral system may, if they like, accept the following diagnosis of the genus Numenius : — 

 ToTANiN^ having the arch of the bill sufficiently great that a straight line drawn from the 

 gape to the point where the two mandibles meet at the tip will pass below the lower 

 outhne of the under mandible, and having the lower half of the tarsus scutellated in front. 



The student may inquire why, if the so-called structural characters are so unsatisfactory, 

 cannot the matter be settled by appeal to the colour-test ? Because colour, and more 

 particularly pattern of colour, dates much too far back to distinguish such closely-allied 

 genera as Numenius and Totanus. The only important point in which Numenius borealis, 

 N minor, and Totanus hartrami diflFer in colour, or pattern of colour, is that the latter 

 species has barred primaries ; but unfortunately T. hartrami is the only Totanus that has 

 barred primaries, and N. horealis and N. minor are the only species in the genus Numenius 

 that have plain primaries. 



This is clearly a case for the anatomist to decide, but in the meantime a wise 

 conservatism may allow the two species to remttin in the genera in which the instinct of 

 ornithologists has already placed them. 



The genus Numenius, like Totanus and Charadrius, may be in a transition state as 

 regards the scutellation of the tarsus. Numenius minor and N. borealis are so nearly allied 

 that it is difficult at once to find a perfectly satisfactory character upon which to separate 



