GALLINAGO. ■ 145 



black near their ends; under wing-coverts and axillars distinctly barred 

 with black and white, white bars on the latter slightly wider than the 

 black bars; lower primary-coverts ashy; quills ashy below, secondaries 

 fringed with white at the ends. 'Basal half of upper bill horny, distal 

 lialf blackish brown ; basal half of lower bill greenish, remainder blackish 

 brown; feet greenish ; iris brown.' {Cripps.) Length, 223; culmen, 58; 

 wing, 124; tail, 48; tarsus, 30. 



''Adult female. — Does not perceptibly differ from the male in color 

 and markings. Length, 240; culmen, 62; wing, 129; tail, 44; tarsus, 30. 



"It is very difficult to distinguish young birds from old ones, and I 

 believe that the only characters of any value are the uniform black 

 stripes along the sides of the crown. In old birds, not only are these 

 black stripes mottled with rufous, but there are also numerous small spots 

 of rufous-buff interspersed among the black feathers of the back; the 

 black subterminal marks on the scapulars are also smaller in the young 

 birds than in the old. A further sign of immaturity is, I believe, to be 

 seen in the nearly uniform fulvous-brown on the throat and fore neck, 

 these portions being more mottled with lines and arrow-head spots of 

 black in the old birds. 



"From G. gallinago the present species is distinguished by the wire- 

 like feathers in the tail and by the entire surface of the under wing- 

 coverts being regularly barred with black and white, and the outer web 

 of the first primary being whity-brown instead of pure white. Occa- 

 sionally young birds of G. stenura have the whole of tlie breast and 

 abdomen regularly barred with dusky." (Sharpe.) 



122. GALLINAGO MEGALA Swinhoe. 



SWINHOE'S SNIPE. 



Gallinago megala Swinhoe, Ibis (1861), 343; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. 

 Mus. (1896), 24, 624; Hand-List (1899), 1, 165; McGregor and Wor- 

 cester, Hand-List (1906), 29. 



Can-du-ro', Manila. 



Bantayan (McGregor) ; Basilan (Steere Exp., McGregor) ; Calamianes {Bourn.'! 

 c6 Woi-cester) ; Cebii {Everett) ; Leyte (Everett) ; Lubang (McGregor) ; Luzon 

 (Jagor, Bourns d Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor) ; Masbate (Bourns d- Wor- 

 cester) ; Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns d Worcester, Gelestino) ; Min- 

 doro (McGregor) ; Negros (Bourns d Wo7-cestcr) ; Palawan (Whitehead, Bounis 

 d Worcester) ; Panay (Bourns d Worcester) ; Sibuyan (Bourns d Worcester) ; 

 Siquijor (Bourns d Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns d Worcester). Eastern 

 Siberia and Japan; in winter China south to the Moluccas. 



"Adult male. — Similar to G. stenura, and with wire-like outer tail- 

 feathers, but these not so narrow and showing at least two distinct bars 

 towards the ends; the tail-feathers twenty in number, of whicli the seven 

 outer ones are attenuated, and only the six central ones show the cliarac- 

 teristic broad subterminal band of nifous. 'Bill light yellowish brown 

 77719 10 



