GAME-BIRDS OF INDIA 



Sub-family SCOLOPACIN^. 



The members of this sub-family may be distinguished from all 

 other birds of the family Charadriidse by having no trace of a web 

 between the toes and by having the bill about twice as long as the 

 tarsus. Another striking feature of the Snipes is the curious position 

 of the eyes, which are placed very far back in the head, just above 

 the anterior edge of the ear-orifice. In this country we have three 

 genera — Scolopax, which contains the Woodcock only, Gallinago, 

 containing the true Snipes, and Bostratida, containing the birds 

 generally called Painted Snipes. The genus Scolopax includes, 

 according to Sharpe, only two species, viz., rusticula and saturata. 

 The former, the common Woodcock, is migratory, summering in the 

 Himalayas and extending in the winter to the Plains of India ; the 

 latter is found only in Java and New Guinea and but little is known 

 about it. Of the genus Gallinago Sharpe recognises twenty species, 

 some of which are migratory and some are not ; of these seven 

 species and one doubtful sub-species {raddei) are found in India. The 

 genus Bostratida is non-migratory and contains three species, of 

 which one, the Common Painted Snipe, is found over most of India 

 and Burmah as well as China, Japan and Africa. 



Blanford's key to the genera is as follows : — 



A. Sexes similar in plumage, bill straight. 



a. Tibia feathered throughout; no longitudinal pale stripes 



on crown, occiput and nape transversely striped . . Scolopax. 



b. Tibia partly naked, longitudinal pale stripes on crown 



and scapulars Gallinago. 



B. Sexes different, bill curved downwards at tip Bostratida. 



The sportsman can always tell the Painted Snipe (Bostratida) 

 at a glance by its bright colouration, so different in every way from 

 an ordinary Snipe's plumage. 



The Woodcock he can tell, not only by its weight and size, but 

 by a glance at the under-surface of its tail feathers and if these have 

 silvery tips, then the bird is a Woodcock. Again if the occiput and 

 nape are found to be barred, and not streaked, in the character of 

 their markings, the bird is the same. 



