Wings long, flat, and pointed, with narrow, rapidly graduated
primaries; inner secondaries long; tail usually quite short; rarely
forked (Glareola) or greatly elongated (Parridæ); legs generally long
and slender, sometimes extremely so; toes short except in Parridæ,
either semipalmate or cleft to the base; lobate in Phalaropodinæ;
bill slender, compressed, and covered with soft skin, rarely hard
throughout (Arenaria). Members of this order live on the ground in
open places, usually near water and many of the species assemble in
flocks during the winter months. Eggs three or four, highly colored
and much spotted, usually pyriform. The nest, with rare exceptions,
is a slight hollow in the ground. The young are downy and able to
run within a few hours after leaving the egg. This order includes
the sandpipers, plovers, snipes, Acurlews, and their allies. [13]
Suborders.
a1. Tail nearly square, never forked; toes and claws not greatly
lengthened.
b1. Smaller, wing less than 230 mm.; bill small and short or greatly
lengthened but never heavy. ... Charadrii (p. 99)
b2. Larger; wing more than 250 mm.; bill moderate in length but
powerful; tarsus covered with hexagonal scales. ... Oedicnemi
(p. 154)
a2. Tail forked, or else the claws very long.
b1. Tail forked; gape deeply cleft; claws normal in
length. ... Cursorii (p. 152)
b2. Tail not forked, but with two or more lengthened feathers; gape
normal; claws extremely long and slender; a sharp spur at bend of
wing. ... Parræ (p. 150)
Suborder CHARADRII.
Family CHARADRIIDÆ.
Bill slender, in some very long, straight, occasionally gently curved;
tail short and nearly square; legs moderately long to very long;
plumage (except in Rostratula) white, gray, and brown, occasionally
black and reddish. This family includes all the stilts, curlews,
godwits, snipes, sandpipers, and plovers.
Subfamilies.
a1. Toes not laterally scalloped; no serrated edge on back of tarsus.
b1. Tarsus more than twice as long as middle toe with claw;
naked portion of thigh much longer than middle toe with
claw. ... Himantopodinæ (p. 113)
b2. Tarsus less than twice as long as middle toe with claw; naked
portion of thigh much shorter than middle toe with claw.
c1. Culmen with a decided dertrum or arched swelling at tip;
tarsus reticulate behind.
d1. A small fleshy wattle in front of eye; front of tarsus
covered with large transverse scales. ... Lobivanellinæ (p. 101)
d2. No eye wattle present; tarsus covered with small hexagonal
scales. ... Charadriinæ (p. 102)
c2. Culmen without a dertrum at tip.
d1. Tarsus with transverse plates in front and hexagonal
scales behind; bill short, less than head; culmen nearly
straight. ... Arenariinæ (p. 99)
d2. Tarsus with transverse plates both before and behind
(except Numenius which has a long decurved bill); bill usually
much longer than head, either straight or curved, the tip
usually soft.
e1. Toes webbed at base. ... Totaninæ (p. 114)
e2. Toes cleft to the base. ... Scolopacinæ (p. 132)
a2. Toes with lateral lobes; tarsus with the posterior edge
serrated. ... Phalaropodinæ (p. 149)
Subfamily ARENARIINÆ.
Genus ARENARIA Brisson, 1760.
Bill pointed, culmen straight and flattened for basal half; nostril
linear, situated in a groove which extends half the length of bill;
wing long and pointed; first primary decidedly longest; tarsus short
with transverse plates in front and hexagonal scales behind; toes
without webs; hind toe present.