. Key to North American birds; containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary. Illustrated by 6 steel plates and upwards of 250 woodcuts. Birds. SCOLOPACID^, SNIPE, ETC. — GEN. 201. 251 represented in tins country are the Limicola plati/rJiyncha, the peculiarity of which is expressed in its name ; and the Eurinorhynchus pygmoius, a wonderful and exceedingly rare species, in which the bill is expanded and flattened at the end, somewhat as in the spoonbill. The singular Philomachus pugnax
. Key to North American birds; containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary. Illustrated by 6 steel plates and upwards of 250 woodcuts. Birds. SCOLOPACID^, SNIPE, ETC. — GEN. 201. 251 represented in tins country are the Limicola plati/rJiyncha, the peculiarity of which is expressed in its name ; and the Eurinorhynchus pygmoius, a wonderful and exceedingly rare species, in which the bill is expanded and flattened at the end, somewhat as in the spoonbill. The singular Philomachus pugnax should perhaps rather come here than among d. The tattlers, with which it is ranged, beyond. In this, the largest and most varied group, the bill has comparatively little of the sensitiveness of that of all the foregoing, and the gape is longer, extending obviously bej'ond the base of the culmen, and sometimes to nearly below the ej^es. It varies much in length and shape, but it is usually longer than the head, and very slender, not often grooved to the tip, and is either straight, or bent slightly upward. The body and its members are commonly more elongate than in the foregoing, the toes have a basal web or two, and the hinder is always present. The tail is usually barred. They are noisj', restless birds of the marshes and sand-flats and mud-bars of estuaries, and apparently do not probe for food to any extent; they gain their name from their harsh voice. The j'cllowshanks is a tj^pical example of the group ; most of the species cluster close about this type, and ought to go in the single genus Totanus. Gen. 217, 219, 220, are another slight group. The only extra-limital form is the Prosobonia leucoptera, of the Sandwich Islands, a curious species, apparently near 220. There are about 18 species in all, universally distributed. Finally, e. The cuiietvs (gen. 222) are distinguished by the downward curvature, extreme slenderness, and usually great length of the bill, with the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1872
