Attagis
| Attagis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Thinocoridae |
| Genus: | Attagis Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I. & Lesson, RP, 1831 |
| Type species | |
| Attagis gayi I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & Lesson, 1831 | |
| Species | |
Attagis is a genus of seedsnipe, a South American family of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a vegetarian diet.
These birds look superficially like partridges in structure and bill shape. They have short legs and long wings. Their 2-3 eggs are laid in a shallow scrape on the ground.
The genus was erected by the French ornithologists Isidore Saint-Hilaire and René Lesson in 1831 with the rufous-bellied seedsnipe (Attagis gayi) as the type species. The name Attagis is the word used for a game bird in Ancient Greek texts. It probably referred to the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus).