The Rusticola offSffeiMoty Svhieh we adopt as asubgjfnus,fe® t t e
W o o flw eb , is- di s t ingu i s h e d, and even frond-niost water hards, by
the want of nudity of fcbetibia, which i® d^'mpletely »e#fere*el with
feathers as-im land-RisdSi1 It oonta’inis but th e EwO speipes alluded
t®, th a t <ae«closely allied, though th e ^ h a v e »pecifi© traits -that
might constitute. genera in !©ihew©ases,wThis shows the difficulty
in oar sdieBt^ ^ik®@wiatg. wher& to5§eefc>f®r generic and ,f peeafi®
traits in thSai-idMfeflMit group#® The two species of ^Woodcocks
vary greatly in their respective habits,, one being a .summer, th e
other a winter «visitant in temperate . climates, and one of^couBse
retiring south, the other n©rthwarife|from them. . SoSOe. atutboBS
prefer for this group the name of Sctmpax, because it i^ to .its type
th a t the Greeks gave«-tlfis‘®i®n©;«!i*>
Our' subgenus Sepktfmk, «if which we have published a monograph
in our Observations on the second edition of -Gwderfs
Animal Kingdom* is composed of'ftinejor ten species, all of which#
with their characteristic Retails, will be carefully figured in ©up
inedited work s^Lithograpnic -Monography of obscure genefia @|f
Aquatic Birds.” In these the tail-feathers furnish tfi^specific
characters. The number,shape,. and disposition(ofcthese^flfordwa
sure clue, as in, Nitmenius i% is the ij| h p. under wing-coverts, and
long axillary fdMhers which are our best guide to a knowl&dgjf of
the specie». Without this clue they cannot well be distinguished,
a®d< those who «undertake .to make phrases with this object in a
group to which they have not the clue, will only make pedantic,
nonsense, as is done ^ every day. Th ie very natural group# is
called Telmatias by Boie, and Gallinago hx the English.
As for Macroramphus;, as *we have observed, it; forms the transition
to Tetanus, which wouldbe enough to show the impropriety
Of Boie’s course in -considering the genus- Scolopax as a family ®f
itself. Temminck’s name- of Becassme Ckevatienis peculiarly
descriptive, and alone contradicts his unjust censure of Dr. Leach’s
genus* agrbup whose scientific-ipiracteTS’were first laid down by
our frie®® Mr. Say, though he’referred the spfebi^sitd Lirriosa.
In its winter pJtanage the RedjSkhasted SnipOJ instead of the
mottled garb in which it As® familiar, is M an uniform dusky*
cirifereous r the spfecimeidttning Before.' u#1' is eleven find a half
inches long and’ nihetteenwPextent. The bill is two and a quarter
inches longw of a dull greenish, the tip is - 'black, and obtains
the strong^fmarked dorsal grb'otraffclfat so {jgpll disting#fl|8srs a
Scolopax from-tin? allied genethl The prevailing -dusky-dinereous
Colour extefU’s over the Jma^nbdlfc- and win'g^ove'rtsj the badk
and scapulars bdingjof a lighter dusky-oiiipreous, and each feather
darker oh'its margin and u p a broad Mne from the upper mandible
passing over the bye, and the lower orbit,' are white: betweeil
the eye And bill is a dusky line; the MdOf a#C#pown: tbeiffcoofes,
ttam t and npp g .pOrtionfeof theibreasfc aPe pale cinereous, }e$tch
fetpfer being margined with whitish i the'5lower part of the back,
the rump and upper tail-feathers ai?e wbjtoe, b®autifully and elosely
fasmated with black: the breast,1 bdUy and thighs are white,
the sides being” ^potted and waved ^ifh blackish:. the lower
tail-coVex'ts are white with s ta rt black bands, narrows# than those
of the upper parts. >The wings are six inches long: 1 the lesser
wiffig*chyer®s of the colour of the badgfc bust they are margMed
with whitish ; the middle and greater wing-eoverts are darker
with pure white margins and a liftjfe white along tHe shafts : the
primaries are plain blackish-dusky, the inner one slightly edged
with white:«the secondaries abb te©adly margined and narroully
shafted with whit«: the first quill is longest; the shaft white : the
under wing-coverts and long axillar^feathers are white, fasciated
with black. The tail is two and a Halr inches long, composed of
twelve feathers, all full and .pounded, the two middle a little
longer, and marked like the coverts already described, that is
white and densely fasciated with black bands. The feet are of a