Mr. H. Seebohm 07i the Genus Scolopax, 127 



1. Scolopax rusticula. 



Our Woodcock is a semi-arctic bird ranging from tlie 

 Atlantic to the Pacific. In Scandinavia it breeds up to 

 lat. 67°, in West Russia to 65°, but in East Russia and 

 Siberia not mucli beyond 60°. Its soutliern breeding-range 

 extends to the Azores, Canaries, Madeira, the Alps, Car- 

 pathians, and Caucasus, to the Himalayas (where it breeds 

 at an elevation of ten thousand feet), and to Mongolia and 

 the mountains of Japan. It has not occurred in Iceland 

 or Greenland, and only once on the Faroes ; but accidental 

 stragglers, no doubt driven westward by storms, principally 

 from the Azores, have been met with on the American con- 

 tinent in Newfoundland, New Jersey, and Virginia. 



2. Scolopax minor. 



The American Woodcock may be recognized at once by 

 the extraordinary attenuation of its first three primaries, 

 and by its unbarred primaries and underparts. The pattern 

 of the colour of the upper parts is very similar to that of our 

 bird, to which it is evidently very closely allied. Its range 

 extends northwards to lat. 50°, and southwards into Texas, 

 but its longitudinal range extends from the Atlantic only 

 halfway across the continent. To the northern half of its 

 range it is only a summer visitor ; but in the southern half it 

 is a resident, the numbers of which are largely increased 

 during winter. There can be little doubt that it is the result 

 of an ancient western emigration from the Old World. 



3. Scolopax saturata. 



The Javan Woodcock is a resident in the island the name 

 of which it bears, and where it breeds at an elevation of 

 7000 feet. It is evidently the result of a southern emigration 

 of our bird, caused by the freezing-up of its breeding-grounds 

 in the east by the snow of the Himalayas. The Javan Wood- 

 cock is smaller than our bird, but has a larger bill and a 

 more rounded wing. The first primary is half an inch 

 shorter than the second, and there are no bars on any of the 

 primaries. 



