Genus — V E T 0 L A , nov. 
Type Scolopax lapponica Linne. 
This genus, which has been continually confused with Limosa^ is as well 
characterised as the majorit}^ of the Scolopacine genera. It is easily dis- 
tinguished by its short legs, differing much in the same way as Pseudototanus 
differs from Glottis. Compared with Liynosa the biU is proportionately shorter 
and more slender and distinctly more upturned ; the groove on the upper 
mandible becomes obsolete at about three-quarters the length of the culmen 
owing to the strong vertical compression of the upper mandible, the groove 
on the lower mandible however persists as in Limosa. The legs are short, 
the exposed tibia being less than the length of the middle toe, the metatarsus 
is less than twice the middle toe and also less than one-third the length of the 
wing, the scuteUation of the front of the metatarsus becomes irregular and 
broken up into hexagonal scales towards the tibio-tarsal joint, whereas in 
Limosa the scuteUation is quite regular. The middle claw is normal, untoothed 
and short, being one-fourth, or less, the length of the middle toe. 
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