334 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



with narrow scales ; the tibia bare of plumes for a short 

 space above the knee ; toes long and slender, with the inner 

 toe shorter than the outer ; the hind toe long, slender, and 

 elevated. 



625. Rhynchaea Oapensis. (Linn.) Pi. Eni. 270 ; 



JScolopax Oapensis, Linn. ; Sc. Bengalensis, Gmel. ; 

 Bh. Variegata, Vieil. ; The Painted Snipe, Latham's 

 Gen. Syn.. PI. 81. 



Male : head brown, slightly variegated with white ; a yellow 

 stripe passes from the base of the bill over the centre of the 

 head, to the back of the neck ; a similar stripe rises imme- 

 diately in front of each eye, passing to the back of the head ; 

 two similar stripes, bordered by black, extends from the 

 shoulders, down the back, to the root of the tail ; aeck 

 greyish-brown, barred finely on the back portion with dark- 

 brown, on the anterior portion more coarsely with the same 

 colour ; it is likewise here bisected by a white collar ; under 

 parts all white ; the back beautifully marked with transverse 

 black, white, and grey bars ; the wings with numerous 

 yellow semiocelli, edged with black. When extended, they 

 expose numerous yellow or white ocelli, also edged with black, 

 and also numerous black wavey transverse bars, chiefly on a 

 slate- coloured ground; the tail is similarly marked. The 

 female, reversing the ordinary rules, is more brilliantly marked 

 than the male. The eye-stripe is pure-white ; the chin 

 dirty- white ; neck and breast deep dull-rufous, succeeded by 

 a broad black collar, and the pure white of the under parts 

 broken only by a patch of black on each side. The plumage 

 of the back is much darker, and the wings, when closed, 

 instead of showing the black and yellow markings of the 

 male, are a shining-green, transversely and minutely barred 

 with black, all lustrously shot with metallic-green ; legs green ; 

 bill red at the tip; iris hazel. Length, 10"; wing, 5" 2'"; 

 tail, 2". 



. The " Painted Sni2)e " frequents the same localities as the preceding 

 species, and is very common at certain seasons, breeding with us in 

 the marshy ground near Cape Town. 



The Fifth Family, PALEMEDEID^, or 

 Screamers, 



have the bill generally long and slender, with the culmen 

 rather depressed, straight at the base; the apical part vaulted, 

 and the tip overhanging that of the lower mandible ; the 



