500 



SCOLOPAX. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



suffused with chestnut than in the Colombian form. It also differs from its Colombian 

 ally in having on an average a larger foot ; but it is doubtful whether the latter character 

 would hold good in a large series. As it is, the difference is so small that, in order to 

 make it as perceptible as possible, it is necessary to measure the foot in the longest possible 

 way, that is, from the joint of the tibia and tarsus to the end of the claw of the middle toe. 

 These dimensions vary in S. nobilis from S'O to 3-3 inch, and in 8. macrodactyla from 3-4 

 to 3 '6 inch. 



So far as is known, the Madagascar Snipe is the only Snipe found on that island, 

 and does not occur on the mainland. 



SCOLOPAX ^QUATORIALIS'. 



ETHIOPIAN SNIPE. 



Diagnosis. Scolopax rectricibus quatnor externis pro majore parte albis; tectricibus mediis anguste fulvo 

 terminatis. 



' This species is often called Scolopax nigripennis, a name given bj' Bonaparte to a Snipe said to have come 

 from the Cape. He describes the outer web of the first primary as black, whence the name nigripennh. As, 

 however, the Ethiopian Snipe happens to be distinguished from the other species which breeds in the Ethiopian 

 Itegion and from the species which only winters there by the fact that the outer webs of its first primaries 

 are white, there can be little doubt that the name is a misprint for albipennis ; but the adoption of either name 

 is, of course, out of the question. 



