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FAMILY XXXVL— SCOLOPACIN^. SNIPES. 



Bill longer than the head, subulate, slender, straight, or recurved, or 

 decurved; upper mandible with the nasal groove very long, the edges 

 flattened or rounded, the tip generally rather obtuse; lower mandible 

 with the angle extremely long and narrow, the sides longitudinally grooved. 

 Nostrils basal, linear, small. Head rather small, oblong, anteriorly rounded; 

 neck of moderate length or long; body ovate, deep. Legs generally long, 

 slender; tarsus long, compressed, scutellate; toes generally four, first small, 

 sometimes wanting; anterior toes of moderate length, slender. Claws small, 

 arched, compressed, rather acute. Wings long, pointed, with the first quill 

 longest, and the inner secondaries tapering and much elongated; tail rather 

 short, of twelve feathers. Tongue long, slender, trigonal, pointed; oeso- 

 phagus of moderate width, stomach oblong or roundish, moderately muscular, 

 with dense rugous epithelium; intestine long, of moderate width; cceca 

 rather long, cylindrical, contracted at the base. Trachea flattened, with a 

 single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



Genus I.— TRINGA, Linn. SANDPIPER. 



Bill little longer than the head, slender, straight, compressed, tapering, 

 with the tip a little enlarged and blunt; upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 straight and slightly declinate, the ridge narrow and flattened until towards 

 the end, when it becomes considerably broader, the sides sloping, the tip 

 convex above and ending in a blunt point, the edges thick and flattened; 

 nasal groove extending to near the tip; lower mandible with the angle long 

 and very narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides sloping outwards, with a 

 long narrow groove, the tip a little broader, but tapering. Head rather 

 small, oblong, compressed; neck of ordinary length; body rather full. Feet 

 rather long, slender; tibia bare a third part of its length; tarsus anteriorly 

 and posteriorly scutellate; hind toe very small, or wanting, the rest of mode- 

 rate length, slender, the fourth slightly longer than the second, the third 



