SCOLOPAX. 



505 



only halfway across the continent. To the northern half of its range it is only a summer Geographi- 

 visitor, but m the southern half it is a resident, whose numbers are largely increased f ''''*"^^- 

 during winter. There can be little doubt that it is the result of an ancient western '"' 

 emigration from the Old World or from the Azores. 



It is for the most part a forest-bird, and almost exclusively nocturnal in its habits. 



SCOLOPAX ROCHUSSENL 



MOL UCCAN WO OB CO CK. (Plate XX.) 



ScoLOPAX rectricum apicibus subtus colore argenteo : primariarum pogoniis internis fasciatis : Diag 

 pectore non fasciato. 



It is not known that examples from one island of the Moluccas differ in any way from Variations. 

 those of another. 



Scolopas rochussenii, Schlegel, Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. 1866, p. 254. 



Neoscolopax rochusseni [Schlegel], Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Genov. xviii. p. 331 (1882). 



Plates. — Hitherto unfigured. 

 Habits. — XJndescribed. 

 Eggs. — Unknown. 



Synonymy. 



Literature. 



The Moluccan Woodcock, like all the four true Woodcocks, possesses both the transverse Specific 



markings on the head and the silvery tips to the under surface of the tail-feathers. The 

 absence of bars on the breast and the presence of rudimentary bars on the margin of both 

 webs of the primaries serve to distinguish it from the other Woodcocks. Its unbarred 

 breast shows its relationship to 8. minor, and its barred primaries to S. rusticola. 



It is only known from the small group of islands from which its vernacular name 

 is derived, and where it is doubtless a resident. 



It is very different from our Woodcock, but is probably the result of an emigration 

 of a party of that species from Japan. 



Although its habits are undescribed we may fairly assume it to be a forest-bird, as the 

 islands which it inhabits are said to be covered with wood to the sea-shore. It is very 

 rare in collections. The type in the Leyden Museum came from the island of Obi, 

 and I have an example in my collection which was sent to Mr. G. A. Frank, of Amsterdam, 

 with a collection of birds from Ternate. 



3t 



characters. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



