THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
of gallinula above noted, tbe tail-feathers are sixteen in number. In 
addition the wing is between 130 and 140 mm. in aU save one, and the 
metatarsus between 33 and 36 mm. in all save three. Such constancy 
indicates the recognition of the species which show differences as being weU 
defined, and this course I propose to adopt. 
In G. gallinago the wing is between 130 and 140 mm., the bill is more than 
half the length of the wing, and is more than twice that of the metatarsus ; 
the metatarsus is longer than the middle toe but shorter than the middle toe 
and claw ; the tail is regularly rounded, composed of fourteen, sometimes 
sixteen feathers ; the structural characters are gaUinagine as above defined. 
Agreeing with the above are (Equatorialis RiippeU, delicata Ord, paraguayce 
Vieillot, and ?nedia Latham (= major Gmelin). 
Two South American species are somewhat aberrant and might be given 
subgeneric rank : firstly, nohilis Sclater, which has a wing-length of about 
140 mm., with a bill about 100 mm., and a metatarsus about 40 mm. This 
species has thus increased its bill-length one-third — as the limit in G. gallinago 
is about 75 mm. — and its metatarsus a httle, the limit in G. gallinago being 
about 36 mm. — ^without any corresponding increase in its wing-length. The 
new subgeneric name MACRODURA will serve to indicate this difference. 
The other, hrasiliensis Swainson, has the wing under 120 mm., but little 
corresponding decrease in bill and metatarsus. The bill is generally less 
than twice the length of the metatarsus — rarely more, though more than 
half the wing. I propose that this species be subgenerically distinguished by 
the new name of ODURELLA. 
The Madagascar Snipe, G. macrodactyla Bonaparte, is a puzzling form to 
classify. It bears such a close likeness to the South American nohilis that 
Seebohm regarded them as only subspecifically distinct. Their distribution 
forbids this conclusion, and there can be no reasonable doubt that we have 
here a case of convergence. The isolation of the species on the island of 
Madagascar has again produced an extraordinary increase in bill-length, an 
appreciable increase in the metatarsus, with little increase in wing-length. 
The biU is generally well over 100 mm., in one instance measuring 113 mm., 
while the wing varies between 135 and 140 mm., and the metatarsus 
measures 41-42 mm. It can be easily distinguished from nohilis by its having 
the metatarsus regularly scuteUate before and behind, whereas in nohilis 
the hind part of the metatarsus shows indistinctly reticulate, through 
the breaking-up of the scutes. For this I propose the new generic name 
EUGALLINAGO. This disposes of the Typical Snipes of Seebohm with 
fourteen-sixteen tail-feathers. 
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