Mr. H. Seebolim on the Genus Scolopax. 123 



genus which^ if more complicated^ are nevertheless founded 

 upon characters of equal importance ; but enough has been 

 said to show what a good genus Scolopax is. To split up 

 such a sharply defined well-characterized genus into four or 

 five ill-defined badly-characterized genera is surely both un- 

 necessary and unwise. Like every other genus it may easily 

 be divided into subgeneric groups, because the gaps between 

 the species are not of exactly the same width, A coincidence 

 so remarkable seldom or never occurs. 



Most ornithologists recognize the two groups of Snipe 

 and "Woodcock as generically distinct, but they probably do 

 so because they are unacquainted with the intermediate 

 forms which connect them. The three species of European 

 Snipe have many characters in common which distinguish 

 them from tlie Woodcock. 



1st. In the Snipes the tibia is bare of feathers for a con- 

 siderable distance, whilst in the Woodcocks it is feathered to 

 the joint. This diagnosis would make the species of Wood- 

 cocks to be eleven in number. 



2nd. In the Snipe the number of tail-feathers is usually 

 fourteen or more, whilst the Woodcock has only twelve. 

 If the species were divided upon this character, the Jack 

 Snipe must be added to the Woodcocks, and six of the other 

 eleven Woodcocks must be removed to the Snipes. 



So much for what are called structural characters ; but by 

 bringing characters founded upon colour to the rescue, we 

 find other differences, as we shall see in the sequel, of obvi- 

 ously greater generic value. 



3rd. The bold black markings on the heads of the Snipes 

 begin at the base of the bill and are longitudinal, whereas in 

 the Woodcocks they are confined to the hind head and are 

 transverse. This character excludes the Jack Snipe once 

 more from the Woodcocks, and confirms the removal of the 

 six species excluded by the second character, thus reducing 

 the Woodcocks to five species. 



4th. The tail-feathers of the Woodcock have curious 

 silvery white tips, of which no trace is to be found in the 



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