558 Mr. N. A. Vigors on a new Species of Scolopax, ^c. 



also has but twelve ; but it never can be confounded with that 

 bird, from the great disproportion between the essential charac- 

 ters of both ; the bill alone of S. Sabini exceeding that of the 

 latter species by one third of its length. In the relative length 

 and strength of the tarsi it equally differs from all. These mem- 

 bers, although stouter than those of S. gaUinago, fall short of 

 them by -^ of an inch : they are much weaker, on the other 

 hand, than those of S. major, although they nearly equal them in 

 length. In general appearance it bears a greater resemblance 

 to S. rusticola than to the other European Scolopaces, but it may 

 immediately be recognised as belonging to a different station in 

 the genus ; the two exterior toes being united at the base for a 

 short distance, as in the greater number of the congeneric spe- ■ 

 cies ; while those of S. rusticola are divided to the origin. 



The only specimen of this species with which I am acquainted, 

 the description of which is accompanied by a very accurate 

 drawing by Mr. Curtis, is the bird in my possession. It was 

 shot in the Queen's County, in Ireland, by the Rev. Charles 

 Doyne, of Portarlington, in that county, on the 2 I st of August 

 1822 ; and was obligingly communicated to me the same 

 day. I have named the species in honour of the Chairman of 

 the Zoological Club of tlie Linnean Society, whose zeal and 

 ability have thrown so much light upon the Ornithology of the 

 British Islands*. 



* Since the above communication was read to the Society, I have been enabled to 

 record a second instance of this bird having been met with in the British Islands. On 

 the 26th of October 1824, a female of this species was shot on the banks of the Med- 

 way, near Rochester, and is preser\-ed in the valuable collection of Mr. Dunning of 

 Maidstone. The specimen was kindly communicated to me by that gentleman, and 

 was exhibited to the Zoological Club on the 23rd of November 1824. It accords in 

 every particular with the specimen above described, with the exception of being some- 

 what smaller. This difference of size most probably indicates the difl^erence of sex. 



Ordo, 



