127 
Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Scolopax. 
-f- 1. Scolopax rusticula. 
Our Woodcock is a semi-arctic bird ranging from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. In Scandinavia it breeds up to 
lat. 67°, in West Russia to 65°, but in East Russia and 
Siberia not much beyond 60°. Its southern breeding-range 
extends to the Azores, Canaries, Madeira, the Alps, Car¬ 
pathians, and Caucasus, to the Himalayas (where it breeds 
at an elevation of ten thousand feet), and to Mongolia and 
the mountains of Japan. It has not occurred in Iceland 
or Greenland, and only once on the Faroes; but accidental 
stragglers, no doubt driven westward by storms, principally 
from the Azores, have been met with on the American con¬ 
tinent in Newfoundland, New Jersey, and Yirginia. 
4. 2. Scolopax minor. 
The American Woodcock may be recognized at once by 
the extraordinary attenuation of its first three primaries, 
and by its unbarred primaries and underparts. The pattern 
of the colour of the upper parts is very similar to that of our 
bird, to which it is evidently very closely allied. Its range 
extends northwards to lat. 50°, and southwards into Texas, 
but its longitudinal range extends from the Atlantic only 
halfway across the continent. To the northern half of its 
range it is only a summer visitor; but in the southern half it 
is a resident, the numbers of wRich are largely increased 
during winter. There can be little doubt that it is the result 
of an ancient western emigration from the Old World. 
3. Scolopax saturata. 
The Javan Woodcock is a resident in the island the name 
of which it bears, and where it breeds at an elevation of 
7000 feet. It is evidently the result of a southern emigration 
of our bird, caused by the freezing-up of its breeding-grounds 
in the east by the snow of the Himalayas. The Javan Wood¬ 
cock is smaller than our bird, but has a larger bill and a 
more rounded wing. The first primary is half an inch 
shorter than the second, and there are no bars on any of the 
primaries. 
