SCOLOPACIN^. 673 



unfrequentlj taken for a Wood-cock. One from the Neilgherries 

 is recorded in the Bengal Sportini) Ma/jazine for 1833 as having 

 weighed 13^ oz. Was it not a Woodcock? 



2nd. Of large or moderate size ; the tail Avith from 20 to 28 

 feathers ; the laterals (five to ten on each side) highly attenuated 

 and stifl'; in some cases increasing gradually in width. Leo^s and 

 feet slightly smaller. Gen. Spilura, Bonap. 



869. Gallinago solitaria, Hodgson. 



J. A. S. VI. 491.— Blyth, Cat. 1607. 



The Himalayan Solitary Snipe. 



Descr. — Head above brown, with pale mesial and superciliary 

 lines ; a dark band from the base of the bill gradually lost in the 

 ear-coverts ; upper plumage much as in the common Snipe, but 

 the whole of the feathers more spotted and barred with rufous ; 

 a conspicuous pale bufF stripe along the scapulars and inner edge 

 of the wing ; primaries brown, with a narrow pale edging exter- 

 nally, and the innermost tipped with white ; secondaries and 

 tertiaries broadly barred with dark brown and pale rufous ; tail 

 deep black at the base with a broad subterminal band of bright 

 ashy-rufous, tipped brown, and the extreme tip pale ; outermost 

 rectrices finely barred ; breast olive brown with white dashes, or 

 white and brown bars, passing into white on the abdomen and 

 vent, with some olivaceous bands on the upper belly and flanks, and 

 the sides of the vent and under tail-coverts whitish. 



Bill reddish brown ; irides dark ; feet greenish yellow. Length 

 12^ inches ; extent 20 ; wing 6^ ; tail 3^ ; bill at front 2^ ; tarsus 

 1^; middle-toe 1^. Weight 6^ ozs. 



The Himalayan Solitary Snipe has hitherto only been found in 

 the Himalayas, and no details of its peculiar haunts are recorded. 

 It inhabits thin forests, near swampy ground, and in winter has 

 been killed at from 3,000 to 6,000 feet of elevation. I am not aware 

 if it occurs elsewhere, but it will most probably be found in 

 summer in Thibet and Central Asia ; indeed Bonaparte states 

 that there is a species from Japan which scarcely differs, having 

 20 to 24 rectrices, the outer ones narrow ; it is very probably 

 Swinhoe's Gallin. megahy from China. 



PART II. 4 « 



