Absolutely agreed and by no means were all these variations photographed. Early uncowled rotary engined tractor aeroplanes were problematical operationally for a pilot with all the Castor Oil and other excreta being flung out through 360 degrees , including over the top of the coaming in to his face. The cowling was a means of containing this and one would expect a variety of field mods to achieve this. Hence its structure should not be necessarily taken as an essential recognition feature.
In this instance the scalloped t/e pretty well excludes Avro ( steel tube member giving the Avro straightness) and most British manufacturers by 1914, The evident sesquiplane layout also is not Avro 500, but both features are typical Caudron.
The skid layout is not Avro ( although later on a few 500 s were converted }., but again agrees with Caudron.
The lower cabane pretty well drives it to be a Caudron GII .as distinct from a GIII.
I cannot think of any other service contemporary type that would fit the basic airframe recognition criteria apparent in the image.
But perhaps somebody else can come up with a constructive alternative?
(Failing that, I think the balance of possibilities strongly supports the GII assertion)
Last edited by Haraka; 24th Aug 2020 at 17:37.