164 THE ZOOLOGIST*. 



Woodcock (S. minor), which differs from the others in having the 

 first three quill-feathers attenuated, and resembles the Moluccan 

 bird in having the breast unbarred. 



It has been said that one " can tell from outside appearance 

 if a Snipe is a home bird or a foreigner," and moreover that 

 " a home Snipe has a lot of white on its belly, and, consequently, 

 is more easily shot than its foreign relations. . . . The foreign 

 bird has very little white about it, except under the wings," &c. 

 I beg to differ in this opinion, and think, if the question be 

 examined a little more closely, it will be found that, allowing a 

 certain margin for individual variety, the birds with very little 

 white about the belly, and with the sides and flanks barred with 

 brown, are young birds of the year, and that this barring disappears 

 more or less with age. Both forms are found wherever the Snipe 

 occurs, and, if any half-grown young bird be examined, it will 

 be seen that the sides and flanks and a great part of the belly are 

 barred with brown. As is the case in the majority of birds, we 

 meet with melanistic varieties among Snipe, when the whole 

 plumage is suffused with a dusky tint, and these exaggerated 

 birds represent what is commonly known as Sabine's Snipe 

 (Scolopax Sabinii) ; but in a large series one can find intermediate 

 forms, and I think there can be no doubt that this darkness of 

 plumage is largely caused by the nature of the ground these birds 

 inhabit. 



THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 



In a ' Report of the United States National Museum,' of 

 which separately printed copies have been lately issued (8vo, 

 Washington, 1889, pp. 369—548, plates 1—22 and map), Mr. 

 W. T. Hornaday has given a very complete account of the past 

 and present status of the American Bison. The subject is 

 divided into three parts : — (1), the life history, which includes an 

 account of the discovery of the species, its geographical distribu- 

 tion, habits, food, &c. ; (2), the extermination, embracing the 

 causes, methods of slaughter, progress of destruction, and legis- 

 lation to prevent it ; and (3), the result of the Smithsonian 

 Expedition for specimens, with numerous illustrations from 

 photographs. 





