440 PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 
most modern, though much less so than that of former writers ; 
for we arrange in it all the Scolopacide, whose bill, short, or 
moderately so, straight or slightly curved, is soft or flexible 
for its whole length, and with the poimt smooth, depressed, 
somewhat dilated and obtuse; not taking into consideration 
the feet, especially the hind toe, which we think in this case 
hardly proper to represent subgeneric divisions. Ornitho- 
logists will perceive at once from this that our genus thus 
constituted reunites in a natural group species that were dis- 
persed by Linné in his genera Zringa Scolopax and Chara- 
drius, and even some that Latham placed in his restricted 
genius Numenius. It coincides more nearly with the better 
formed genus Zringa of Brisson, and especially of Vieillot, 
TYemminck, and Ranzani, but with the addition of their 
Arenaria or Calidris ; and with the same addition, is wholly 
included in the Actztis of Illiger; although that learned 
systematist does not cite under his comprehensive genus a 
single typical Zringa, and probably never examined one, as 
they do not possess the character he assigns to the group 
“nedes colligati.” Our Zringa embraces and is formed of 
the groups Calidris, Pelidna, Falcinellus, Machetes, Hury- 
norhyncus and Arenaria of Cuvier; and we subdivide it 
pretty nearly into these very groups, which we regard as 
subgenera, adding, moreover, to them another which we call 
Hemipalama. 
All our Tiringee have a bill compressed at the base, with 
both mandibles furrowed each side their whole length, the 
lower a little the shorter; the nostrils are in the furrows, 
basal, linear, and pervious, but half closed by a membrane: 
their tongue is moderately long, slender, subfiliform, canali- 
culated above, entire, and acute. The tarsus is slender, longer, 
or subequal to the middle toe, and always scutellated: the 
fore toes rather elongated and slender, the hind toe when 
present is extremely short, slender, much elevated, and 
hardly reaching the ground: the nails are moderate, com- 
pressed, curved, and acute. The wings moderate for this 
