290 CIIARADRIID^E. 



As a rule the colour of G. stenura is slightly duller than that of 

 G. coelestis throughout the upper parts, and the two may often be 

 distinguished by this alone. 



Length 10*5 ; tail 1*8 ; wing 2-25 ; tarsus 1/3 ; bill from gape 

 2-4 (males 2-12 to 2-5; females 2-38 to 2-62). The weight 

 according to Hume, from whom most of these details are taken, 

 averages 3*91 oz. in males, 4-2 in females. 



Distribution. The Pintail Snipe breeds, so far as is known, in 

 Eastern Siberia as far west as the Teuesei Valley, and migrates 

 in summer to South-eastern Asia an 4 the Malay Archipelago. It is 

 very rare in the Punjab, Sind, and N.W. Provinces, Sajputana, and 

 Guzerat; but increases in number to the southward and eastward, 

 and is found throughout the Peninsula in winter, predominating 

 in Mysore and Southern India, whilst on the highlands of the 

 Deccan, in Bombay, and the Central Provinces, and even somewhat 

 farther south, the Common Snipe is more abundant. In Ceylon 

 the Pintail is very common, and whilst in Orissa and Bengal the 

 two species are on the whole equally distributed, everywhere 

 farther east, in Assam, Sylhet, Cachar, and throughout Burma, 

 G. stenura is the Snipe of the country, and only stragglers of 

 G. coelestis are found. As the Pintail arrives earlier in the year and 

 leaves later than the Faiitail, it is the more common species before 

 tiiG middle of October and after the end of February in some 

 places, for instance the neighbourhood of Calcutta, where the two 

 species are on the whole equally abundant. 



Habits, $c. The habits of the Pintail Snipe are so similar to those 

 of the Fantail, that only a few differences need be noted. The 

 present species arrives in India fully a fortnight or three weeks 

 earlier and leaves later, but up to the present time no information 

 has been obtained of its breeding within our limits. Both species 

 are usually found in similar localities, but the Pintail feeds to a 

 much greater extent on grubs, caterpillars, insects, Crustacea, arid 

 mollusca, and much less on worms, its bill being far less sensitive 

 and consequently not so well adapted for searching for food in 

 mud. Doubtless because of the difference in foods, the present 

 species is much more frequently found in dry grass or stubble, or 

 low jungle, than its ally is. The cry is slightly different, but I have 

 never been able to clearly recognize the distinction; Hume says 

 the note of the Pintail is sharper and more screechy ; Legge that 

 it is less harsh. The flight of this Snipe is certainly heavier and 

 less swift. 



1486. Gallinago solitaria. The Himalayan Solitary Snipe. 



Galliuago solitaria, Hodgs. Gleaning* in Science, iii, p. 238 (1831) ; 

 Bhjtli, Cat. p. 272; Adams, P. Z.'S. 1859, p. 189; Jerdon, B, I. 

 iii, p. 673; Stdiczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 70; eavan, 

 Ibis, 1868, p. 892 ; Hume $ Henders. Lah. to Yark. p. 286 ; 

 Hume, Cat. 110. 8b9 ; ScMlly, S. F. viii, p. 353 ; Hume Sf Marsh. 

 Game B. iii, p. 333, pi. ; Hume, S. F. ix, p. 283 ; JBiddulph, 

 Ibis, 1881, p. 95 ; Scully, ibid. p. 588; -Swinhoe, Ibis, 1882, p. 121 ; 



