MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 783 



12 inches, wing just 6 inches, weight a little over 8 oz. ; as I had only a few 

 minutes to spare, I put the snipe away for a fuller examination on the 

 morrow. The first thing the next morning I had my bird out, but, alas ! it 

 was in a high state of putrefacMon, so I deemed it necessary to send it off at 

 once to the Superintendent of the Museum here for preservation. 



Before doing so, I consulted the books I possessed on the subject 'Blanford, 

 Jerdon, LeMessurier, Sharpe, Gates, Saunders, Yarrell and Seebohm), and 

 found my bird was not G. nemoricola, G. soUtaria or a giant G. ccelesUs. 



I came to the conclusion thus : The lateral tail feathers were not attenuat- 

 ed or stiff, hence G. nemoricola and G. solitaria weve excluded. The lateral 

 tail feathers were soft, nearly as broad as the others, white, crossed with two 

 or three bars on the outer webs only near the base, thus excluding G. ccplestis 

 which has these feathers chestnut-buff with subterminal dark brown bars. 

 The wing coverts of my snipe had conspicuous white tips. 



From the above characteristics, arrived at by a process of exclusion, I con- 

 sider I am justified in verifying my bird as GalUnago major. 



I sent the snipe to the Museum, and had a reply from Mr. Thurston the 

 Superintendent, to ihe effect that the bird was G. nemoricola ; but this I am 

 positive it was not. I have shot a dozen G. nemoricola and had my first 

 specimen identified by Gates, who subsequently obtained the verification of 

 his diagnosis from Bowdler Sharpe. Unfortunately, I have never met G. soli' 

 taria, and have rather a hazy idea of G. major, two or three specimens of 

 which I procured in Ireland now 10 or 12 years ago. The other Indian Scolo- 

 pacidce I am familiarly acquainted with. Mr. Thurston threw away my bird 

 as being too far gone for preserving, hence the occurrence of G. major near 

 Madras must remain in doubt to my unspeakable regret. 



Gates in his recently published booklet " The Game Birds of India," Part 2, 

 page 467, says : — " Allied to the common snipe is the Great or Double snipe 

 (^GalUnago major), which is not unlikely to be found to occur within our 

 limits as a chance visitor : " and as this snipe's distribution is said to be " as 

 far east as the Yenesei (where it exceeds the common snipe in numbers) 

 and southwards to the Tianshan Range" (Saunder's Manual) its very casual 

 occurrence here is possible. 



C. DGNGVAN, Captain, I. M. S., 

 Member, British Ornithologists' Union. 

 Madras, 7th September, 1899. 



No. XXVII.— LIVE FEGGS IN A SNAKE. 

 A few days ago a large rat-snake {Zamenis vtuco&us), about 6 ft. long, was 

 killed in my compound. I saw it just after it bad been killed, and seeing 

 that it had had a feed, I cut it open to see what it had beep eating. On open- 

 ing it I foimd a large frog about 4 or 5 inches long in its stomach, which at 



