Mr. H. Seebohm on Horsfield's Woodcock. 285 



powers of flighty it bears no relation to the zoological 

 regions which control the geographical distribution of Pas- 

 serine birds. 



The Javan Woodcock has been found by two collectors, 

 Horsfield and Boie ; and the New-Guinea Woodcock has 

 also been obtained by two collectors, Rosenberg and Bruijn. 

 Salvadori (Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, iii. p. 235) records 

 the presence of a second example of the latter species from 

 Mount Arfak, in the same peninsula of New Guinea, in the 

 iiiuseum o£ Count Turati in Milan. It seems therefore 

 impossible to come to the conclusion that Horsfield^s Wood- 

 cock can be a resident in only one of the two localities where 

 it has been found, and an accidental visitor to the other. 

 Our knowledge of the birds residing in the mountains of the 

 various islands of the Malay archipelago is unfortunately 

 very imperfect, and we can only assume that Horsfield^s 

 Woodcock is a resident in the chain of islands from Java to 

 Western New Guinea. It is, however, possible that it may 

 be a migratory bird, breeding in the mountains of South- 

 eastern Thibet and wintering on the islands of the Malay 

 archipelago. That it should be confined to two localities so 

 isolated as Java and Western New Guinea, would be an 

 instance of a discontinuous area of distribution, too unusual 

 to be accepted without much stronger proofs of its correct- 

 ness than we now possess. 



The number of typical Woodcocks is thus reduced to four. 

 No other species of the large genus Scolopax have silvery 

 tips to the under surface of the tail-feathers, or transverse 

 instead of longitudinal markings on the crown. These four 

 Woodcocks may be diagnosed from each other with the 

 greatest ease. 



Pale bars on outer webs 

 of prhnaries 



saturata. . . 

 rusticula . 

 rochusseni . . 



Tibife feathered to the 

 joint. 



Pale bars on inner webs 

 of primaries. 



None of these three characters, however, are peculiar to 

 the Woodcocks, but are all found in one or other of the 

 Snipes. 



