No.L] THE AUSTRAL AVIAN RECORD 31 



from the Antipodes Island as recognizable, though it 

 had been lapsed by its author. 



In the Reischek collection, specimens were contained 

 from the Auckland Islands and from Antipodes Island, 

 and the latter were at sight different in their darker 

 coloration, both above and below. In this respect 

 they agree with specimens from Antipodes Island in the 

 British Museum, received since the Catalogue of the 

 Birds of the British Museum was written. The Snares 

 Island subspecies, huegeli Tristram, is also dark-coloured, 

 but it appears to be larger than the Antipodes Island 

 birds. 



In this note I would draw attention to the misleading 

 results of genus-lumping. Classed by most writers in 

 GalUnago, it puzzled most thinking students to account 

 for the occurrence of a species of GalUnago, isolated on 

 the southernmost rocks off New Zealand and absent 

 from the main islands. The only species of GalUnago 

 known at that time from Australia, was only a migrant 

 to that continent. 



Seebohm grasped the truth when he called the New 

 Zealand birds semi- Woodcocks, but by his usage of wide 

 genera he hid away the lessons to be learnt from this 

 classification. 



Examination of the New Zealand birds showed that 

 their reference to GalUnago was not only unscientific, 

 but was absolutely wrong. The bill, general form, and 

 legs and feet were undoubtedly those of the Woodcock 

 and not those of the Snipe. The only course open was 

 the usage of the genus Ccenocorypha, and as a vernacular, 

 semi-Woodcock should certainly be utilised in preference 

 to Snipe. 



In South America, however, occurs a bird which can 

 best be described as a magnified Ccenocorypha — in struc- 

 ture and coloration accurately agreeing, but immensely 

 superior in size. This species — also quite wrongly classed 

 by Sharpe in GalUnago, and also quite correctly named 

 by Seebohm, semi- Woodcock — occurs in the southernmost 



