SNIPE. 125 



the sexes. The painted snipe is rather uncommon, while its flight is 

 slow, so that it cannot rank with the true snipe as a sporting bird. 



Of the three true snipe, the common snipe {GalUnago media) is by 

 far the most numerous round Tientsin. It has a wide range, being 

 found right across Asia and Europe, and is also the species so sought 

 after by sportsmen in the British Isles. It is the smallest of the three 

 species mentioned, is the richest in colouring, and has longer and more 

 pronounced longitudinal buff markings upon the back. The under surface 

 of the wing is of a very light grey, the feathers being lightly barred 

 with dark grey. The most characteristic feature, and the one by which 

 it can be distinguished unmistakably from the other two species is the 

 tail. This is comparatively large, and contains fourteen feathers of 

 almost equal size and uniform shape. These tail feathers are used in 

 Europe to make trout flies. 



The pintail snipe are so called because of the peculiar attenuation 

 of the outer tail feathers into almost pin-like shafts. 



Of the two species, Swinhoe's pintail {GalUnago me gala) is the 

 larger. In other respects it is more or less an intermediate form be- 

 tween the common and lesser pintail snipe. Thus it is lighter in 

 general colour than the common snipe, but slightly darker than the lesser 

 pintail. Its tail is composed of twenty feathers, the outer six on either 

 side being very much smaller than the others, though not so pin- 

 like as those of the lesser pintail. The upper surface of the wnng is more 

 spotted than in either of the other two species, and its head is also dar- 

 ker in colour. The under surface of the wing is much more strongly 

 marked than in the common snipe, the breast is more spotted, and 

 the belly less white than in the other species. So far I have only been 

 able to record two of this species this season, out of a total of about 

 seventy birds examined (Sept. 15th, 1913). 



The remaining species, the lesser pintail snipe (GallinagO' stennra) 

 is slightly smaller than Swinhoe's snipe, but considerably larger than 

 the common snipe. It is the lightest coloured of the three, and has 

 the smallest tail. The latter makes up for its size in the number of 

 feathers it contains, there being no less than twenty six, of which the 

 outer eight on either side are very narrow and pinlike. The dark bands 

 on the head are spotted with light brown, while the Tght markings 

 on the back assume the form of transverse bars rather than longitudinal 

 streaks as in the other two species. Only two of this species have 

 fallen to my gun this season, though I found them very plentiful last 

 May in Manchuria. They breed within the Arctic Circle, so that those 

 I saw in May had a long way to go before the end of June . 



