12(5 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Scolopax. 
form, it seems as if the colour, with all its complications of 
pattern and variations with age and sex, must have remained 
unchanged. The Jack Snipe is another case in point. Not¬ 
withstanding the fact that its hill has become considerably 
modified from the typical Scolopacine form, and that, unlike 
any other Snipe, it has two instead of only one notch on each 
side of the posterior margin of the sternum, it has retained the 
longitudinal markings on the head which proclaim it a Snipe 
and not a Woodcock, as well as the peculiar colour and pattern 
of the dorsal plumage which are common to most species of 
both groups, whilst in the coloration of the tail it differs far 
more from the Snipes than they do from the Woodcocks. 
In dividing the Snipes from the Woodcocks there cannot . 
be much doubt that the natural line is that laid down by our 
third character and confirmed by the fourth, both characters 
being founded on differences of pattern of colour. It can 
scarcely be denied that in the Snipes, at all events, differences 
in the pattern of colour are of older genetic date, and there¬ 
fore of higher generic value than so-called structural differ¬ 
ences ; and that those ornithologists who maintain the 
contrary are advocating a hypothesis inconsistent with the 
theory of the evolution of species. 
The geographical distribution of the Snipes is most 
remarkable, few genera of birds being so nearly cosmopolitan 
as the genus Scolopax . In the Arctic Regions both of the 
Old and of the New World Snipes breed beyond the Arctic 
Circle: in Norway, under the influence of the Gulf-stream, 
as far as 70° N. lat. No true Snipe is known to breed in 
Australia (the eggs attributed to the Australian Snipe are 
undoubtedly those of the Australian Painted Snipe); nor is 
any Snipe known to breed in any of the South Pacific islands, 
with the exception of the Auckland and Chatham Islands, 
south of New Zealand. No true Snipe breeds in the Oriental 
Region, except at great elevations in the Himalayas; but, 
after the breeding-season, India, the Malay Peninsula, and 
Australia are visited by enormous numbers of these birds. 
Otherwise the Snipes are cosmopolitan, breeding in Europe, 
Asia, Africa, and in both North and South America. 
