SCOLOPAX. 



469 



invented the hypothesis of Sexual Selection to explain those facts which appear to be Sexual 



col ppf l on 



incapable of explanation by the theory of Natural Selection. It seems impossible to 

 imagine any benefit that could accrue to a species by increasing the number of its tail- 

 feathers; and philosophers will probably explain this curious series of facts by attributing 

 it to the influence of Sexual Selection, on the same grounds that many a man, not a 

 philosopher, explains an action of which he is unable to give a rational defence, by saying 

 that it was a whim of his wife! 



The geographical distribution of the Snipes is almost an exact parallel to that of the Parallel dis- 

 Thrushes, a group of birds quite as cosmopolitan. The Common Snipe and the Song- brushes ° 

 Thrush and their respective allies inhabit the Nearctic and Palsearctic Regions. The 

 Snipes of the Ethiopian Region and the Planestici {Turdus olivaceus and its allies) of the 

 same Region find the closest possible allies in the Neotropical Region. The Semi- 

 Woodcocks and Ouzels (Merula) are represented by near allies in the Himalayas and 

 in Tropical America, though the former have not left traces of their emigration in the 

 Pacific Islands as the latter have done. The coincidence can scarcely be regarded as 

 accidental, but appears to be an instance of the same causes producing the same effect. 



The geographical distribution of the Snipe appears to be somewhat anomalous from Distribution 

 either the Passerine or the Batrachian point of view. The Painted Snipes are confined to ° ,m l )es - 

 the Equatorial Southern Zone, and are found in each of its four Regions — the Indian, the 

 African, the Tropical American, and the Australian Regions. The Woodcocks are also 

 found in the Northern Zone ; but those inhabiting the Europo-Asiatic Region and the 

 eastern half of the North-American Region appear to form one group, whilst the other is 

 found only in the south-east of the Indian and the north-west of the Australian Region. 

 The range of the Semi-Woodcocks, being confined to the islands near New Zealand 

 and the Andes, would be most complicated if expressed in terms of either system of 

 Regions. The typical Snipes are only absent during the breeding-season from the 

 Oriental and Australian Regions; but it is worthy of note that the only species found 

 in the Nearctic Region finds its nearest ally in the Palsearctic Region, whilst some of 

 the Snipes of the Ethiopian Region are doubtfully distinct from some of those of the 

 Neotropical Region. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



For convenience of diagnosis the Snipes may be divided into three groups. The first 

 group contains the Typical Snipes which have fewer than 17 tail-feathers; the second 

 comprises those Typical Snipes which have more than 17 tail-feathers, and which may 

 therefore be styled Aberrant Snipes ; and the third includes both the Woodcocks and the 

 Semi- Woodcocks, which are classed together so that the student miy see how many 

 characters they have in common. 



