NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 
171 
Family SGOLOPAGIDJE. 
Bill variable in length, but at least as long as the head, grooved to beyond 
the middle. Legs with transverse scutellse before and behind, (except in 
Numeniece.) Toes not broadly margined to the tips, with or without a basal 
web. Hind toe generally present. 
Scolopacince. Bill covered with soft skin to the sensitive, vascular, usually 
more or less laterally expanded tip. Gape of mouth very small, not extending 
beyond the base of the culmen. Bare portion of tibiae short. Legs generally 
rather short and stout. Toes usually cleft to the base. Body stout, neck 
rather short. 
Totaninee. Bill covered with soft skin only towards the base, the terminal 
portion being hard, horny, and usually unexpanded and attenuated. Gape of 
mouth considerable, extending beyond the base of the culmen. Tibiae bare 
for a considerable distance. Legs slender and lengthened. Toes usually with 
a basal web. 
Subfamily SCOLQPACINiE. 
Scolopacece. Bill much longer than the head or naked leg, extremely sen- 
sitive. Upper mandible with a longitudinal furrow near the end, and its tip 
thickened and bent down over the lower. Roof of mouth not excavated to 
the tip. External ear beneath or anterior to the eye. Tail usually banded. 
Tringece. Bill shorter than the naked leg, the tip less sensitive than in the 
preceding, more or less laterally expanded, but not thickened. Roof of mouth 
excavated to the tip. Culmen without a decided longitudinal groove. Ex- 
ternal ear posterior to the eye. Tail usually without bands. 
The preceding diagnoses indicate, in a general way, the principal characters 
of the several groups, and distinguish the Tringece. The latter, at least as far 
as North American forms are concerned, may be thus more definitely charac- 
terized. 
The bill is straight or slightly decurved, at least as long as the head, and 
sometimes considerably exceeding it; rather slender, usually more or less 
compressed, seldom much depressed. The tip is usually more or less ex- 
panded, and sensitive and vascular, that of the upper mandible bent a little 
over that of the lower. The grooves in both mandibles extend to the expan- 
sion of the tip ; that of the upper is much the widest, but both are deep and 
distinct. In some genera there are decided indications of a longitudinal furrow 
on the culmen near the end. The nostrils are linear, pervious, very narrow, 
situated in the sinus of the upper mandible, usually very near its base, but 
sometimes considerably advanced. The angle formed by the rami of the lower 
jaw is very small, the enclosed space being long and narrow, and the groove 
marking the line of union of the rami usually extending about two-thirds the 
length of the bill, but sometimes nearly to the tip. The extent of the en- 
croachment of the feathers on the bill varies in the different genera ; but, 
except perhaps in Ancylocheilus , it is always greater between the rami than on 
the sides. The wings are long, pointed and powerful ; the first primary is 
usually the longest, but the second is nearly, sometimes quite, equal to it. 
The rest are all rapidly graduated. The secondaries are very short and incon- 
spicuous. The edge of the outer vane is obliquely incised at the extremity. 
The tertials are usually long, slender and tapering, sometimes nearly equal- 
ling the primaries in length. The tail is rather short, usually doubly emar- 
ginate, the central feathers pointed, and projecting somewhat beyond the 
others. The legs and feet vary greatly in their character in the different 
genera, always, however, being constant in each. Except in Arguatella and 
Tringa, the tibiae are always exposed for a considerable portion of the length 
of the tarsus, and in those genera the bare portion is considerable. Except in 
Arguatella , Actodromas , and perhaps Ereunetes, the tarsus is always decidedly 
1861 .] 
