syrrhaptes

[ Gr.syrrhaptos =sewn together; syrrhaptō = to sew together; syn = together, and rhaptō to sew.] Ornith.: A genus of Pteroclide (q. v.), with two species. Bill small, conical, nostrils concealed by feathers, tarsi hirsute; toes short, concrete, hirsute above, hallux absent; the two middle tail-feathers and first two quills of wings produced into pointed setaceous filaments. They normally range from Tartary, Thibet, and Mongolia, to the country round Pekin, and occasionally visit Eastern Europe; but in 1863 great numbers of them appeared in Europe, and reached westward to the shores of the Atlantic. *sŷrt, s . (Fr. syrte , from Lat. syrtis ; Gr. syrtis = a sandbank.] [SYRTIS.) A quicksand. *syr-tic, adj . [Eng. syrt; ic.] Pertaining or relating to a syrt or quicksand; of the nature of a quicksand.