SCOLOPAX. 283 



Length of male 7'5 ; tail 2-6 ; wing 5 ; tarsus '85 ; culmen *8f>. 

 Females are larger ; wing 5*4. Bill flat and rather wide, much 

 broader than tarsus. 



Distribution. The Grey Phalarope breeds in high northern 

 latitudes all round the Pole, and ranges south in winter even to 

 Chili and New Zealand. It has once been obtained by Blyth, on 

 May llth, 1846, in the Calcutta Bazaar; no other occurrence in 

 India is known. Hume thought he obtained this species between 

 Gwadar and Muscat, and as the specimen was mislaid, he was 

 unable to re-examine it (S. F. vii, p. 487) : but his dimensions 

 show that the bird obtained by him could not be P.fulicarius, and 

 the skin has now been found in his collection, and proves to be 

 that of P. hyperboreus. 



Subfamily SCOLOPACIN^E. 



The Woodcocks and Snipes have the toes free like Tringa, but 

 they are distinguished by a very different style of plumage, which 

 does not change with the seasons, and by their large eyes placed 

 far backward in the head, the ear-orifice being just beneath the 

 hinder edge of the orbit. The bill is long, slender, and largely 

 provided with nerves ; whilst the tarsus is short, not exceeding the 

 middle toe and claw in length. 



All the members of this subfamily have crepuscular or nocturnal 

 habits. Rostratula (Rhynclicea) is an aberrant form. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Sexes similar in plumage ; bill straight. 



a'. Tibia feathered throughout : no longitudinal 



pale stripes ; occiput and nape transversely 



striped , SCOLOPAX, p. 283. 



V. Tibia partly naked; longitudinal pale stripes 



on crown and scapulars GALLINAGO, p. 285. 



b. Sexes different ; bill curved downwards at tip HOSTRATULA, p. 293. 



Genus SCOLOPAX, Linn., 1766. 



Bill long, straight, slender, rather soft and swollen at the tip : 

 both mandibles grooved at the side ; nostrils linear, basal, the 

 gape in front of the base of the culmen. Wings long, 1st quill 

 longest. Tail short, of 12 feathers. Legs short, feathered to the 

 joint at the base of the tarsus. 



Two or, including the North American form, sometimes separated 

 generically, three species are known. Only the typical one is 

 Indian. 



1482. Scolopax rusticula. The Woodcock. 



Scolopax rusticola, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 243 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. 

 p. 271; Jerdon, B. 1. iii, p. 670; Stoliczka, J. A, S. B. xxxvii, 



