THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
diagnose, so much so indeed that it is scarcely doubtful that they are only 
subspecificaUy distinct ” ; and further gave particulars : — 
“ T. pectoralis. T. acuminata. 
‘ Central feathers of the tail .25 Central feathers of the tail .1 longer 
longer than next and .35 longer than next, and .35 longer than 
than outermost. outermost. 
“ The Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper has the lateral tail feathers somewhat 
more pointed than its aUy, and this appears to be an uncertain character. 
Intermediate forms also occur in which the relative length of the tail- 
feathers is half-way between the two extremes quoted above.” 
The Seebohm drawings do not accurately depict the facts : the tail of 
“ ocumiTiatus ” is regularly wedge-shaped, while that of “ pectoralis ” is 
correctly described as “ doubly emarginate.” I here give drawings carefully 
made from “ minula ” (the type of Pisobia) and fuscicollis (the type of 
Heteropygia) for comparison with that of “ acuminatus ” (the type of 
Lhnnocinclus). The tail of pectoralis {=7naculata) agrees with that of fuscicollis 
in general structure : the outer tail-feathers are longer than the next two 
inner pairs and about equal to the fourth pair, counting from the outside, 
while the two central pairs are much longer, the innermost pair being 
shghtly the longest. 
260 
