Family XXXVI. SCOLOPACINE. SNIPES.
GENUS III. LOBIPES, Cuv. LOBEFOOT

Bill at least as long as the head, extremely slender, straight, nearly cylindrical, towards the end tapering; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, unless at the end, where it is a little decurved, the ridge broad and depressed, the sides slightly sloping, the edges rounded, and inflected towards the narrow acute tip; nasal groove long, linear; lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the sides convex, the tip narrowed. Head small, with the fore part high and rounded; neck of moderate length; body rather slender. Feet moderate, slender; tibia bare at the lower part; tarsus extremely compressed, narrowed before and behind, covered anteriorly with numerous scutella; toes slender, first extremely small, free, with a slight membrane beneath, second slightly shorter than fourth; toes all scutellate above, the anterior webbed at the base, and margined on both sides with a lobed or sinuated membrane. Claws very small, arched, compressed, acute. Plumage soft, and blended. Wings long and pointed, the first quill longest; inner secondaries very long and tapering; tail of twelve feathers, rounded or nearly even. Tongue extremely slender, grooved above, tapering to a horny point; oesophagus narrow, uniform; stomach rounded, muscular, with the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous; intestine of moderate length and width; coeca rather long. Trachea much flattened, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles.