ROSTRATULA CAPENSIS 133 



and moves its hind quarters up and down like some sandpipers, but 

 much more slowly. It will search for food in water something like a 

 spoonbill, and can swim, but this latter is not an exceptional accom- 

 plishment, being common to waders generally. The spreading of the 

 wings undoubtedly has a terrifying effect in some instances, as I have 

 seen a golden plover frightened by it, as also a bantam hen ; but 

 some birds — a rail, ruff and pitta, did not seem alarmed at the 

 Snipe's demonstrations. I was told, how^ever, of a squirrel which 

 was seen to be scared thereby, when it came across one of these birds 

 in one of the aviaries in the Calcutta Zoo, and I know of a case in a 

 private aviary where a ' Painter ' escaped destruction when some 

 other birds were killed by a rat. It seems, therefore, that this 

 gesture is a protective one. At the same time I have no doubt 

 that the natives who told Mr. Hume that the birds showed off to 

 each other in this way in the breeding-season were quite correct in 

 their statements, as I have more than once noted cases in which 

 various birds used the same gestures to express anger or fear as they 

 display in courtship." 



Herbert has an interesting note on this display of the young 

 Painter. He writes : — 



" When slightly alarmed the bird would raise the wing farthest 

 from the intruder, but when ' cornered ' both wings would be 

 extended and brought forward until they reached beyond the tip of 

 the beak, and the tail spread, so that the beautiful spotted markings 

 were fully shown. The hissing, as described by Finn, was very 

 noticeable in the older birds, but in the younger ones it was replaced 

 by a low plaintive whistle, so that it possibly only occurs with the 

 more fully-developed birds." 



Finn, in the above quotation, says that he thinks these birds must 

 be as nocturnal as owls, and Hume says that they certainly move 

 about much more at night than by day. It is probable, however, 

 that they feed freely in the early mornings and evenings, and are 

 crepuscular rather than nocturnal in their habits. Certainly Mr. 

 Hole and I found them constantly feeding in the ploughed fields 

 I have referred to already, during all except the hottest hours of 

 the day, when they retired to the ditches and were only roused with 

 great difficulty. 



They are very omnivorous in their diet, and eat both grain and 

 animal food. An examination of the stomachs of a fairly large series 

 of birds has given the following menus of a Painter's daily fare. On 



