SCOLOPACID^, SNIPE, ETC. — GEN. 201. 



251 



represented in tins country are the Limicola plati/rJiyncha, the peculiarity of which 

 is expressed in its name ; and the Eurinorhynchus pygmoius, a wonderful and 

 exceedingly rare species, in which the bill is expanded and flattened at the end, 

 somewhat as in the spoonbill. The singular Philomachus pugnax should perhaps 

 rather come here than among 



d. The tattlers, with which it is ranged, beyond. In this, the largest and most 

 varied group, the bill has comparatively little of the sensitiveness of that of all the 

 foregoing, and the gape is longer, extending obviously bej'ond the base of the 

 culmen, and sometimes to nearly below the ej^es. It varies much in length and 

 shape, but it is usually longer than the head, and very slender, not often grooved 

 to the tip, and is either straight, or bent slightly upward. The body and its 

 members are commonly more elongate than in the foregoing, the toes have a basal 

 web or two, and the hinder is always present. The tail is usually barred. They are 

 noisj', restless birds of the marshes and sand-flats and mud-bars of estuaries, and 

 apparently do not probe for food to any extent ; they gain their name from their 

 harsh voice. The j'cllowshanks is a tj^pical example of the group ; most of the 

 species cluster close about this type, and ought to go in the single genus Totanus. 

 Gen. 217, 219, 220, are another slight group. The only extra-limital form is the 

 Prosobonia leucoptera, of the Sandwich Islands, a curious species, apparently near 

 220. There are about 18 species in all, universally distributed. Finally, 



e. The cuiietvs (gen. 222) are distinguished by the downward curvature, extreme 

 slenderness, and usually great length of the bill, with the slight scutellation of the 

 tarsus. In size and general appearance they are near the godwits ; they inhabit 

 all parts of the world. They all belong to the genus Numenius, which has about a 

 dozen species — excepting the Ibidorhyncha struthersii of Asia, which is a three-toed 

 curlew, not showing the coloration characteristic of the rest. 



201. Genus PHILOHELA Gray. 



JJ. j 3^ American Woodcoclc. Bog.mcJcer. First three primaries attenuate and 

 Meats; wings short; when closed, the quills hidden by the coverts and 



Fig. 162. Woodcock; with attenuate primaries. 



tertiaries ; tibire feathered to the joint ; tarsi shorter than middle toe, 

 sciitellate before and behind ; toes slender, free to the base ; bill much longer 

 than the head, stout and deep at base, grooved nearly its whole length, the tip 

 knobbed ; gape very short and narrow ; ear under the eye, which is set in the 

 back upper corner of the head ; colors aljove variegated and harmoniously 

 blended black, brown, gray and russet; below pale warm brown of variable 



