12 Lieut. II. R. Kelliam on 



the case witli the English l)ird, has eight rigid pin-like 

 feathers on either side, tliough I have seen speeimens in 

 which these stiff feathers were but seven in number. This 

 is the most marked characteristic of the species, and at once 

 determines the identity of a specimen ; l^ut the Pintail also 

 has the axillary plumes more richly barred than its European 

 brother — though, unless one had some of each kind laid side 

 by side for comparison, the differences between the two species 

 would probably pass unobserved. 



It is only at a certain season that Snipe abound in the 

 Mdny peninsula : from May to July, both months inclusive, 

 it is hard to find a single bird ; but about the middle or end 

 of August they begin to arrive in Province Wellesley and 

 Pulo Penang, extending to Malacca and the extreme south 

 of the peninsula, including Singapore, ten days or a fortnight 

 later, tliough they are not found in great numbers in any of 

 these places until later in September. 



However, it is impossible to lay down a hard and fast rule, 

 as the migration is much influenced by the weather ; but 

 it may safely be said that the great body of the Snipe do 

 not come south until the commencement of the wet and 

 stormy period which proclaims the breaking-up of the south- 

 west monsoon. 



Towards the end of April they return north to their breed- 

 ing-grounds ; and I doubt if any remain to nest in the penin- 

 sula, though in Perak 1 have shot a few stragglers as late as 

 the second week in May. 



With reference to the habits of the Pintail, my experience 

 is that, as a rule, they are not found in any number in the 

 paddy-fields — that is to say, when the crops stand high; and 

 though I once, at Panaga, on November 6, 1877, in about 

 three hours, bagged twenty-five couple on paddy-land, still it 

 was the only occasion I am able to record; and then, I believe, 

 their presence was due to the paddy being scattered about in 

 patches and much mixed up with reeds and coarse herbage. 



Their favourite ground is where the jungle has been burned, 

 and the vegetation, just beginning to spring up, shows in 

 green shoots above the blackened soil. Another sure finding- 



