106 GRALLATORES. SCOLOPAX. 
the upper one, which is sulcated for nearly the whole of its 
length. 
Nostrils basal, lateral, placed in the commencement of the 
furrow, linear and longitudinal, covered with a membrane. 
Wings having the first and second quills of nearly equal 
length, and the longest in the wing. Legs slender. The 
tibize entirely plumed, or else naked for a short way only 
above the tarsal joint. Feet four-toed; three before and 
one behind; the former cleft to their origin, the latter short, 
and resting on the ground only with its tip. 
By Vrettor, and some other recent authors, the Wood- 
cocks have been separated from the snipes, and a genus esta- 
blished for them under the title of Rwusticola. 'The charac- 
ter upon which this separation is founded rests, however, en- 
tirely upon the tibia of one group being feathered down to 
the tarsal joint, while in the other it is naked for a short 
space above it. It must not be omitted that, in addition to 
this peculiarity, the two groups differ also in their habits ; 
the Woodcocks being (at least through the day-time), inhabi- 
tants of the forests and thickest underwood, whilst the Snipes, 
on the contrary, resort to exposed marshy districts and 
moist meadow land. ‘The distinctive character, however, 
being of so slight a nature, I have determined (although an 
advocate for generic division, wherever the difference of form 
is such as to indicate a material difference of economy), to 
retain them under the same generic title; at least till some 
other better marked character be recognised, upon which to 
found the division. The mode of feeding, and quality of 
their food, are nearly the same in both groups, consisting of 
earth-worms and insects; and, although the Woodcocks 
pass the day in rest, and the retirement of close thickets, 
they invariably, during night, repair to open glades and 
meadows to seek their subsistence. Both groups are subject 
to a double moult, but the change in spring is not different 
from the usual plumage in the disposition of the colour and 
