SCOLOPAX. 



471 



the joint ; they are also said to vary in the number of their tail-feathers, but I have never 

 found more than 18. 



C. Woodcocks and Semi- Woodcocks. This group contains 10 species and subspecies, in 

 which the characters dovetail into each other in a remarkable manner : the first 

 four have the markings on the head transverse ; the first three and the last four 

 have the tibia feathered almost or quite to the joint ; none of them have more 

 than 10 tail-feathers ; and the second to the sixth have bars on the outer webs of 

 the primaries. 



minor • 



saturata. 



Three outermost primaries 

 only ^ inch wide. 



Inner webs of primaries barred 



Pale mesial line on crown 



"Wing less than 4^ inches from 

 carpal joint. 



rusticola. 

 rochusseni 

 undulata • • 

 gigantea • • 

 stricklandi. 

 jamesoni ■ ■ 

 imperialis 

 aucklandica 



Tibia not feathered to the 

 joint. 



Bill more than i^ inches 

 from frontal feathers. 



Differs from S. striMandi in 

 having the underparts 

 j whiter and more profusely 

 (^ barred. 



Three outer tail-feathers uni- 

 I form in colour throughout. 



The first four species are not only distinguished by having the markings on the crown 

 transverse, but also by having the tail-feathers tipped with silvery white on the under 

 surface. In all of them the outermost secondary extends an inch or more beyond the 

 longest primary-coverts — a somewhat remarkable fact, as S. minor and S. rusticola are 

 migratory birds. In the two previous groups the broad wing is always correlated with 

 non-migratory habits, and appears to be purely an adaptive character, denoting analogy 

 rather than affinity ; whilst in this group the broad wing seems to be inherited from a 



