126 Mr. H, Seebolim on the Genus Scolopax, 



form, it seems as if the colour, with all its complications of 

 pattern and variations with age and sex, must have remained 

 unchanged. The Jack Snipe is another case in point. Not- 

 withstanding the fact that its bill has become considerably 

 modified from the typical Scolopacine form, and that, unlike 

 any other Snipe, it has two instead of only one notch on each 

 side of the posterior margin of the sternum, it has retained the 

 longitudinal markings on the head which proclaim it a Snipe 

 and not a Woodcock, as well as the peculiar colonr and pattern 

 of the dorsal plumage which are common to most species of 

 both groups, whilst in the coloration of the tail it differs far 

 more from the Snipes than they do from the Woodcocks. 



In dividing the Snipes from the Woodcocks there cannot 

 be much doubt that the natural line is that laid down by our 

 third character and confirmed by the fourth, both characters 

 being founded on differences of pattern of colour. It can 

 scarcely be denied that in the Snipes, at all events, differences 

 in the pattern of colour are of older genetic date, and there- 

 fore of higher generic value than so-called structural differ- 

 ences; and that those ornithologists who maintain the 

 contrary ai'e advocating a hypothesis inconsistent with the 

 theory of the evolution of species. 



The geographical distribution of the Snipes is most 

 remarkable, few genera of birds being so nearly cosmopolitan 

 as the genus Scolapaa^. In the Arctic Regions both of the 

 Old and of the New World Snipes breed beyond the Arctic 

 Circle : in Norway, under the influence of the Gulf-stream, 

 as far as 70°N. lat. No true Snipe is known to breed in 

 Australia (the eggs attributed to the Australian Snipe are 

 undoubtedly those of the Australian Painted Snipe) ; nor is 

 any Snipe known to breed in any of the South Pacific islands, 

 with the exception of the Auckland and Chatham Islands, 

 south of New Zealand. No true Snipe breeds in the Oriental 

 Region, except at great elevations in the Himalayas ; but, 

 after the breeding-season, India, the Malay Peninsula, and 

 Australia are visited by enormous numbers of these birds. 

 Otherwise the Snipes are cosmopolitan, breeding in Europe, 

 Asia, Africa, and in both North and South America^ 



