445 



of the new Diet, of Nat. His. I found the indication of an Egyptian 

 species, which agreed very well with my Italian specimens, and 

 thought better to adopt his appropriate name, than to coin a new one. 



Inhabits Italy during winter : never observed elsewhere but in 

 Egypt. In the neighbourhood of Rome it is the most common 

 species, (the arquata is also common, but the phceopus extremely 

 rare.) From the circumstance of its being entirely a winter bird, I 

 am led to suppose that it may be found all over Europe, where it 

 may have been taken for the young of N. arquata, which it resem- 

 bles greatly ; but its pure white tail-feathers, and its beautiful arrow- 

 shaped spots (instead of streaks) on the breast, together with its 

 diminutive size, and shorter and smaller tarsi and toes, will always 

 distinguish it. It comes to us in September and October, and departs 

 in April. It is observed in large flocks in the damp meadows bor- 

 dering on the Tyber, where they sometimes sit the whole day facing 

 the wind. They sing loudly and incessantly, are very suspicious, 

 and keep sentinels to warn them of danger. They are caught in 

 great numbers in nets, being decoyed by imitating their whistle, or 

 by showing them a living, or even a stuffed specimen, of their own 

 species, or of the Vancllus cristatus. Analogous to N. borealis; 

 but the similarity is not quite so striking as that of the others. 



It is remarkable that all the European species of the genus Ni> 

 menius, have white rumps and white under wing-coverts, whilst 

 each and all the American have the former uniform with the rest, 

 and the latter rusty. 



Note 24. Scolopax wilsonii. I was the first to perceive that 

 this species was distinct from S. gallinago, (See " Observations on 

 the Norn, of Wils. Orn. sp. 204.") and intended to distinguish 

 it by the very equitable name it now bears, but waited until it 

 could be proved distinct from S. Brehmii, another European spe- 

 cies. This was first done by Temminck. Our right, therefore, to 

 impose a name on the species, cannot justly be disputed. 



Temminck is, however, mistaken when, judging from dried skins, 

 he states that the American snipe is by an inch shorter than both 

 the above mentioned European, for it is generally as large, and 

 often larger. 



Note 25. That the authors of the " Illustrations of Ornithology," 



Vol. II. 56 



