THE PLOVER TRIBE 2267 



adult female is somewhat the larger and more brightly-colored bird, and may always 

 be recognized by the olive-green wing coverts, in which each feather is crossed by 

 nearly a dozen narrow dark bars. In the adult female the neck is deep chestnut, 

 shading into black on the breast, and the outermost of the inner secondaries are 

 white, forming a conspicuous stripe. The adult male, on the other hand, has only 

 two dark bars on each feather of the wing coverts, with a buff patch between them. 

 In both sexes the quills of the wings are olivaceous gray, with narrow dark bars, 

 and a series of five or more buff eye-like spots on the outer webs, and the inner 

 webs with similar spots alternating with white bars. The olive-gray tail has four 

 or five rows of these same buff spots on both webs of the feathers, all of which are 

 tipped with buff. The plumage of the upper parts is more or less olivaceous, with 

 the feathers marked by fine zigzag lines, while the chin and lower breast are white, 

 the white area of the latter passing on to the shoulder to form a stripe on the scap- 

 ular region. In addition to the pale stripe down the middle of the head, there is 

 likewise a light area round each, eye. The Australian species (R. australis) may be 

 distinguished by having two instead of four buff spots on the outer web of the 

 eighth primary quill, while the female is peculiar in possessing a much convoluted 

 windpipe. The South-American painted snipe (R. semicollaris} , wandering in sum- 

 mer as far south as Patagonia and wintering in Peru and Brazil, is a much smaller 

 bird than either of the others, with conspicuous large round white spots on the 

 black wing coverts. Differing from the true snipe in their shorter beaks, and low, 

 flapping flight, the painted snipe haunt the same marshy districts as the latter; and 

 although they afford but poor sport, the beauty of one of these birds as it falls on the 

 ground with outstretched wings and tail displaying the spots is quite unrivaled. 

 Although resident throughout the year in India, the common species has to change 

 its quarters a good deal in the drier districts of that country, and is only a migrant 

 to the northwest. When breeding, they are always found in pairs; and, so far 

 as the writer's experience goes, this is generally the case in Lower Bengal all 

 through the colder months, but at certain times of the year Mr. Hume says that 

 they are more frequently met with in small parties. The number of eggs seems to 

 be four, and both parent birds are always in the neighborhood of the nest. The 

 young birds, when first hatched, have the beak quite short. 



The extreme length of the slender beak, which is more than twice 

 Woodcock and , . , ,. . . , , , . , , 



. that of the metatarsus, serves at once to distinguish these birds from 



their relatives, with whom alone they agree in having the toes com- 

 pletely free from webs. The long and straight beak is swollen at the sides, and 

 soft and rugose at the tip, with the laterally-placed and basal nostrils covered with 

 a membrane. The long wings are generally pointed, while the rounded tail com- 

 prises a variable number of feathers. Although in all the species the metatarsus is 

 covered both in front and behind with scutes, the tibia may be either feathered to 

 its base, or partially naked; but a small first toe, elevated above the level of the 

 others, is always present. There is but little difference between the summer and 

 winter dress, and the peculiar mottled russet or ashy tone of the plumage is admi- 

 rably adapted for concealing the birds in their native haunts. All these birds are 

 more or less nocturnal in their habits, and all are endued with the power of strong, 



