123 
Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Scolopax. 
genus which, if more complicated, are nevertheless founded 
upon characters of equal importance ; hut enough has been 
said to show what a good genus Scolopax is. To split up 
such a sharply defined well-characterized genus into four or 
five ill-defined badly-characterized genera is surely both un¬ 
necessary and unwise. Like every other genus it may easily 
be divided into subgeneric groups, because the gaps between 
the species are hot of exactly the same width. A coincidence 
so remarkable seldom or never occurs. 
Most ornithologists recognize the two groups of Snipe 
and Woodcock as generically distinct, but they probably do 
so because they are unacquainted with the intermediate 
forms which connect them. The three species of European 
Snipe have many characters in common which distinguish 
them from the Woodcock. 
1st. In the Snipes the tibia is bare of feathers for a con¬ 
siderable distance, whilst in the Woodcocks it is feathered to 
the joint. This diagnosis would make the species of Wood¬ 
cocks to be eleven in number. 
2nd. In the Snipe the number of tail-feathers is usually 
fourteen or more, whilst the Woodcock has only twelve. 
If the species were divided upon this character, the Jack 
Snipe must be added to the Woodcocks, and six of the other 
eleven Woodcocks must be removed to the Snipes. 
So much for what are called structural characters • but by 
bringing characters founded upon colour to the rescue, we 
find other differences, as we shall see in the sequel, of obvi¬ 
ously greater generic value. 
3rd. The bold black markings on the heads of the Snipes 
begin at the base of the bill and are longitudinal, whereas in 
the Woodcocks they are confined to the hind head and are 
transverse. This character excludes the Jack Snipe once 
more from the Woodcocks, and confirms the removal of the 
six species excluded by the second character, thus reducing 
the Woodcocks to five species. 
4th. The tail-feathers of the Woodcock have curious 
silvery white tips, of which no trace is to be found in the 
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