Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME V.
FAMILY XXXVI.--SCOLOPACINE. SNIPES.
Bill longer than the head, subulate, slender, straight, or recurved, or
decurved; upper mandible with the nasal groove very long, the edges flattened or
rounded, the tip generally rather obtuse; lower mandible with the angle
extremely long and narrow, the sides longitudinally grooved. Nostrils basal,
linear, small. Head rather small, oblong, anteriorly rounded; neck of moderate
length or long; body ovate, deep. Legs generally long, slender; tarsus long,
compressed, scutellate; toes generally four, first small, sometimes wanting;
anterior toes of moderate length, slender. Claws small, arched, compressed,
rather acute. Wings long, pointed, with the first quill longest, and the inner
secondaries tapering and much elongated; tail rather short, of twelve feathers.
Tongue long, slender, trigonal, pointed; oesophagus of moderate width, stomach
oblong or roundish, moderately muscular, with dense rugous epithelium; intestine
long, of moderate width; coeca rather long, cylindrical, contracted at the base.
Trachea flattened, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles.