SCOLOPACID&. ,._ 



147 



head and neck, back, scapulars, and wings, uniform glossy greenish 

 black ; tail pale ashy ; iris crimson, and legs and feet delicate lake-red or 

 rose-pink, in life. Adult female : Similar to the male, but back and 

 scapulars brownish slate, and black of other portions duller. Younq .- 

 Similar to adult female, but feathers of back, scapulars, and tertials bor- 

 dered with buff or dull whitish, the blackish of head and neck finely 

 mottled with the same. Downy young : Above light fulvous-grayish 

 mottled with dusky, the back and rump marked with several large black 

 blotches ; head, neck, and lower parts fulvous-whitish, the top of head 

 and hind-neck grayish, the crown with a median black streak and occi- 

 put with several spots of blackish. Length 13.50-15.50, wing 8.50-9.00 

 culmen 2.50, tarsus 4.00, middle toe 1.37. Eggs 3-4, 1.79 x 1-23, similar 

 in coloration to those of Recurvirostra americana. Hab. Temperate 

 North America, from northern United States southward; south, in 

 winter, to Peru, northern Brazil, and West Indies. 



226. H. mexicanus (Mull.). Black-necked Stilt. 

 a'. White of forehead extending back to and including the occiput ; black of nape 

 separated from that of the back by a white bar or " collar." 



Otherwise, similar to H. mexicanus. Hab. Southern South America 

 (Brazil, Argentine Eepublic, Chili, etc.). 



H. brasiliensis Bebhm. Brazilian Stilt. 



Family SCOLOPACIDiE.— The Snipes, Sandpipers, etc. 



(Page 143.) 



(IVest usually on ground, in meadows, marshes, or along banks of streams. 

 Eggs 2-4.) 



Genera. 



a 1 . Back of tarsus with a continuous row of transverse scutellse. 



b 1 . Ears situated directly underneath the eyes ; tip of upper mandible thick- 

 ened, with cutting-edges brought near together ; plumage the same at 

 all stages and seasons. (Subfamily Scolopacince.) 

 c 1 . Thighs entirely feathered ; top of head with transverse bands. 



d\ First quill longer than second, and broad like the rest ; outer webs 



of quills spotted Scolopax. (Page 149.) 



d 1 . Three outermost quills abruptly much shorter and narrower than 

 the fourth ; outer webs of quills plain. 



Ph'ilohela. (Page 150.) 

 c 2 . Lower part of thighs naked ; top of head with longitudinal stripes. 



Gallinago. (Page 150.) 



b*. Ears situated decidedly posterior to the eyes ; tip of upper mandible thin, 



with cutting-edges far apart; plumage very different in winter and 



1 Himanlopus brasiliensis Breiim, Vog. Deutschl. 1831, 684. 



