GALLINAGO SOLITARIA 45 



be found to be some guide to help us to ascertain the food on which 

 it principally subsists, for we shall find the nervous and muscular 

 structure of the bill most developed in those species which resort 

 most to boring in their search for food. 



In GaUinago solitaria we do not find the retractile muscles and 

 the nerves very highly developed and there are not the strong terminal 

 pits which we see in the bill of the Common Snipe, and, to a lesser 

 degree, in the Pintail and Woodcock. It is probable, therefore, that 

 the Solitary Snipe feeds principally upon such insects and surface 

 shells, &c., as it can obtain above ground, resorting to boring for 

 worms and similar food only when forced to do so by the absence of 

 any other. 



The Solitary Snipe is a most excellent bird for the table, though, 

 as Hume says, perhaps less so than some other members of the genus. 



The Plate of the Solitary Snipe is decidedly good. Many birds are 

 considerably paler in general tone than the bird depicted, which indeed, 

 is darker than the average, though I have seen specimens even darker 

 still. I doubt if any bird ever possessed quite such vivid green legs 

 as these, and the greater number have them more a dull yellow-green 

 with a distinctly livid tinge. 



The bill is correctly coloured, except that the terminal third should 

 be darker. It must, however, be remembered that though the brown 

 tinge given here is correct for some birds, in many the bill will be 

 found to be coloured a livid green at the base, more especially about 

 the gape. 



