Genus— P H .E 0 P U S . 
PniEOPUS Cuvier, Le Eegne Anim., Vol. I., p. 485, 1816 Type P. 'phmo'pus. 
Medium Scolopacine Waders with long arched bills, long wings, long tails, 
moderately long legs, and strong feet. 
Though the structural features are generally as in the preceding, the 
proportions differ : the hill is more slender, more strongly arched, and shorter 
than the tail and less than half the wing. The tail is proportionately longer, 
with the legs shorter and the feet stronger ; the middle toe is more than 
half the length of the metatarsus and the two together exceed the bill 
in length. 
It seems strange that such a well defined and distinct genus should have 
been lumped, as in the A.O.U. Checklist (3rd ed., 1910, pp. 124-125), when 
Pelidna is admitted as genericaUy separable from Erolia (pp. 115-116), and 
Helodrmnas and Rhyacophilus (pp. 120-121) are admitted as vahd. 
175 
