248 



PHALAEOPODID^, PHALAROPES. GEN. 198, 199, 200. 



pa- 



198. Genus STEGANOPUS VieUlot. 



)\' 



Wilson's Phalarojje. Membranes straight-edged ; bill very slender, 

 subulate. Length 9-10 ; wing 5 ; tail 2 ; bill, tarsus, and middle toe, each, 

 over 1, black. Adult ashy; upper tail coverts and under parts white; 

 a black stripe from tlie eye down the side of the neck spreading into rich 



purplish-chestnut, which also vari- 

 egates the back, and shades the 

 throat ; young lacking these last 

 colors. N. Am. Wils., ix, 72, 

 pi. 73, f. 3; NuTT., ii, 245; 

 AuD., V, 299, pi. 341 ; Cass, iu 



Bd., 705 AVILSONII. 



199. Genus LOBIPES Cuvier. 



JSTortliern Phalarope. Mem- 

 branes scalloped ; bill very slender, subulate. Length about 7 ; wing 4i ; 

 tail 2; bill, tarsus and middle toe, each, under 1, black. Adult dark 

 opaque ash or grayish-black, the back variegated with tawny ; upper tail 

 coverts and under parts mostly white ; side of the head and neck with a 

 broad stripe of rich chestnut, generally meeting on the jugulum ; breast 

 otherwise with ashy-gray; young lacking the chestnut. Northern N. Am., 

 U. S. during the migraticm. Bonap., Am. Orn. iv, 82, pi. 25, f. 2 ; Nutt., 

 ii, 239; Aud., v, 295, pi. 340; Cass, in Bd., 706. . . hypeebokeus. 



Fig. 101. , Wilson's Pliahivoiie (head); Nortliern 

 PLalarojie (loot). 



200. Genus PHALAROPUS. 



, I \ Red Phalaro];>e. Membranes scalloped ; bill comparatively stout, flattened, 

 with lancet-shaped tip. Length 7-8; wing 5; tail 2f ; bill 1, yellowish, 

 black-tipped; tarsus f, greenish. Adult with the under parts purplish- 

 chestnut, of variable intensity, white in the young ; above variegated with 

 blackish and tawny. Northern N. Am., U. S. during the migrations. 

 Wils., ix, 75, pi. 73, f. 4; Nutt., ii, 23(3; Aud., v, 291, pi. 339; Cass. 

 in Bd., 707 fulicaeius. 



Family SCOLOPACIDiE. Snipe, etc. 



Snipe and their allies form a well-defined and perfectly natural assemblage, one 

 of the two largest limicoline families, agreeing with plover in most essential 

 respects, yet well distinguished from the pluvialine birds. In general, the bill is 

 much elongated, frequently several times longer than the head, and in those cases 

 in which it is as short as in plover, it does not show the particular, somewhat 

 pigeon-like, shape described under Cliaradriinoi, being slender and soft-skinned 

 throughout. It is generally straight, but frequently curved up or down. The 

 nasal grooves, always long and narrow channels, range from one-half to almost the 

 whole length of the bill ; similar grooves usually occupy the sides of the under 

 mandible ; the interramal space is correspondingly long and narrow, and nearly 

 naked. This length, slenderness, grooving, aud peculiar sensitiveness are the prime 



