COMMON SNIPE 279 
cheeks ; feathers of the middle line of the back, rich dark 
brown chequered with yellowish-buff; scapulars and inner 
secondaries, marked with longitudinal buff-coloured stripes ; 
wing-coverts, chequered and vermiculated with brownish- 
black, buff, and dull greyish-white ; primaries, dusky-brown ; 
basal part of tail nearly black, terminal part, warm red-brick 
colour, barred near the end with dark brown; outer tail- 
feathers, greyish-white near their tips, but grey above, and 
barred with brown; throat and chin, hight greyish-white ; 
front of neck and breast, greyish-brown with darker spots ; 
abdomen, white; flanks, barred with greyish-brown and 
white; upper and under tail-coverts, warm yellowish-brown 
with darker markings. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar to the male plumage. 
Adult winter, male and female.—Similar to the nuptial 
plumage. 
Immature, male and female.——Resembles the adult 
plumage, but the gloss on the back and wings is only 
feebly shown, and the immature birds exhibit more rufous, 
especially about the neck. 
Beak. Horn-colour with a darker point; long, slender, 
and straight. 
Fret. Greenish-brown. 
IrtpEs. Blackish-brown. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... “7 eee Onova 
WING ae Ae be ee, 5 3 
BEAK we Ne a Baie ye QeOnes 4 
'TTARSO-METATARSUS a ase CO aes 
Eae ae 7 a eo alse ealemne 
Allied Species and Representative Forms.—The large 
specimen, alluded to on p. 273, exhibits much buff shading 
and belongs to the form known as G. russata (Plate XXI.). 
The dark variety, or Sabine’s Snipe, S. sabini, is but a 
melanic type; while G. brehmi, with longer tail-feathers, 
is also only a variety. 
The North American form, S. wilsoni, possesses s1x- 
teen tail-feathers; the Australian, G. australis, eighteen ; 
and the Indian form, G. sternwra, about twenty-two tail- 
feathers. 
