Family — S COLOPACID^. 
The Wading Birds which constitute the family Scolopacidce are easily 
recognisable, and seem to form quite a natural group — ^yet almost defy 
accurate definition. In this conclusion I find I am in accord with most other 
writers who have endeavoured to provide a diagnosis of the family. 
Sharpe, in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, Vol. XXIV., 
1896, p. 91, gives the following : — 
Tarsus with transverse plates both before and behind. 
With a web connecting both toes with the inner one Totaninae. 
Toes not webbed at all, but cleft to the base Scolopacinae. 
This is poor as well as incorrect (Sharpe called them subfamilies of the 
family Charadriidce)^ and the first genus included in the Totanince is diagnosed 
(p. 337) : “ Bill distinctly arched : Tarsus transversely scaled and reticulated 
behind.” 
Bidgway in the Manual of North American Birds ^ 2nd ed., 1896, tried 
also to fix shortly the features of the family Scolopacidce, as follows : — 
(p. 143) Front of tarsus covered by a continuous row of transverse scuteUae ; bill slender 
with blunt and more or less rounded (sometimes expanded) tip, the exposed culmen 
longer than middle toe without claw. 
The latter part fails, as on p. 158 one of the members is stated as having the 
“ Middle toe, without claw, longer than exposed culmen,” while the former 
would include many Vanelline extra- American forms. 
In the Water Birds of North America, Vol. I. (p. 108), a better statement 
is given : — 
Bill exceedingly variable — short or long, straight, sHghtly recurved, or decidedly 
decurved, but usually more or less expanded laterally at the end, which is more or less 
sensitive. Hind toe usually present, rarely absent. 
Scolopacidce. Tarsus rounded in front, where clothed with a single row of transverse 
scutellse. 
This is followed up by the explanation (p. 178) : — 
“ They embrace a very great variety of forms, from the diminutive 
‘ Peeps ’ {Actodroinas and Ereunetes) smaller than a Sparrow, to the large 
Curlews, of Ibis-hke stature and appearance. The bill may be either straight, 
bent upward, as in the Avocets {e.g. Limosa and Terekia) or strongly decurved 
hke a sickle ; narrowed at the end or widely expanded into a paddle-shaped 
form {Eurynorhynchus). The legs may be short and stout (as in Arquatella, 
Calidris, etc.) or of almost Stilt-like length (as in Micropala7na, Totanus, etc.). 
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