SCOLOPAX. 



495 



American 

 Snipe. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



The typical form of this species is a small race which appears to be a resident in 

 tropical South America east of the Andes. It scarcely differs from its Peruvian ally in 

 length of wing, but in the length of its bill (which, measured from the frontal feathers, 

 varies from 2'4 to 2*9 inch) it differs from that race, in which the bill rarely exceeds 

 2 inches in length. On the other hand, it scarcely differs from its two allies, which breed, 

 the one in the Falkland Islands and the other in Chili, in the length of its bill ; but in the 

 length of its wing (which, measured from the carpal joint, varies from 4J to 5 inches) it 

 differs from those races, in which the wing is very rarely as short as 5 inches and sometimes 

 as long as 5f inches. 



Azara's Snipe, the Neotropical representative of the Common Snipe, appears to have 

 become more or less differentiated into four races, two small and two large ones ; the two 

 former being tropical, and the two latter temperate in their range. 



I have been unable to discover any character by which some of the forms of Azara's Close rela- 

 Snipe can be distinguished from the North-American form of the Common Snipe except th^North- 

 the width of the outer tail-feathers. In every other respect they appear to be absolutely 

 similar, and to have precisely the same habit of " drumming." 



The Brazilian form of Azara's Snipe, or the Brazilian Snipe as it may conveniently be 

 called, appears to be a common bird in tropical South America east of the Andes, and 

 probably breeds in suitable localities throughout its range. It has occurred in the west of 

 Venezuela (Goering, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 788); 1 have examples collected by Whitely 

 in the neighbourhood of Mount Roraima, on the confines of British Guiana ; it breeds in 

 the marshy districts of Pernambuco (Forbes, Ibis, 1881, p. 359); I have seen examples 

 from the provinces of Bahia and Minas Geraes ; it was originally described by Azara from 

 Paraguay ; Burmeister obtained it in the province of Mendoza in the Argentine Republic ; 

 and I have eggs of this species from Buenos Ayres. 



Hans von Berlepsch expresses the opinion (Journ. Orn. 1887, p. 36) that the small 

 Snipes found in Paraguay are the young of the larger Snipes from that country. The fact 

 that the length of the bill of the smaller birds is the same as that of the larger ones appears 

 to me to be conclusive evidence that this is not the case. I know of no species of Snipe in 

 which the bill of the young is proportionately longer than that of the adult. So far as I 

 know, the contrary is always the case. There is, however, a much more important difference 

 between the two races, a structural difference which many ornithologists would regard as 

 almost generic. The small Snipes are residents in tropical America, and hence we find 

 that they have short primaries and long secondaries : the shortest secondaries extend 

 beyond the longest primary-coverts often as much as half an inch. The large Snipes breed 

 in Patagonia or the Falkland Islands, and are only winter visitors to Paraguay, and 

 consequently the shortest secondaries do not extend beyond the longest primary-coverts. 

 Unfortunately the Chilian race is intermediate in this respect, otherwise the two forms 

 which are found in Paraguay must be regarded as specifically distinct. 



