HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



" Birds of Ceylon," may be of some use and interest to my 

 readers. The common snipe (Gallinago scolopacina) has 

 only been met with, according to Legge, on one or two 

 occasions, and so may be " counted out." The same may 

 be said of jack snipe. The painted snipe (Rhynccea capensis), 

 however, is fairly common, and well worth attention. It 

 is a permanent resident in Ceylon, and breeds in the south, 

 where it is fairly plentiful, but I have not seen many in the 

 North Central Province, though I believe it is common at 

 times in the northern part of the North Province. Captain 

 Legge's description, condensed, is as follows : the bill is 

 much shorter than in the ordinary snipe or the pin-tail, 

 being only about 1.9 inches long; crown and just in front 

 of the eye, between it and beak, greenish black, with a 

 buff mesial stripe down to base of bill, and a broad band 

 of buff round behind the eye ; neck at back and sides grey, 

 mottled with black, paling on fore neck and chest, across 

 which colour is edged blackish ; chin, gorge, and lower 

 face whitish buff, passing into the colour of the fore neck ; 

 back, parts of wing coverts, rump, and tail cinereous, with 

 black cross-pencillings and bars and spots of buff-yellow ; 

 the part of the back between the folded wings, and the 

 large feathers of the lower part of the wings, clouded with 

 greenish black and glossy brown, with a purple sheen in 

 some lights, many of the feathers barred and marked with 

 buff, and some with broad central and lateral stripes of 

 buff, and white ; wing coverts generally olive green, barred 

 and spotted with buff, the spots edged black ; breast and 

 lower parts and median under wing coverts white, passing 

 through the olive and blackish sides of the upper breast 

 in a band which extends round to the shoulders. 



In the female the throat, cheeks, fore neck, and centre 

 of hind neck ferruginous, paling to whitish on chin and 



