WILD-FOWL, SNIPE, ETC. 145 



between them, if you examine them closely. The 

 common snipe is white under the wing, with a 

 few indistinct and irregular brown marks, and the 

 feathers of the tail are soft. The pin-tailed snipe 

 has the under-wing coverts richly and regularly 

 barred, and the lateral tail feathers sharp, stiff, 

 and pointed.' I believe the pin-tailed snipe is 

 more common in Southern India ; from my own 

 experience I do not remember ever shooting one 

 north of Kamptee, in the Central Provinces, where 

 I got several in a day's shooting. The painted 

 snipe is to a certain extent found in the same 

 ground as the common snipe, but is generally 

 looked down upon both as an object for sport 

 and as food. In flavour he is decidedly inferior 

 to any other species, and his flight is so slow and 

 owl-like that he can hardly be missed. His 

 wings are beautifully marked with circular spots, 

 or eyes, and the feathers on his back have a more 

 uniform tinge of olive green than the common 

 snipe's. His bill, too, differs from the rest of the 

 snipe family by being slightly arched at the tip. 



Last of all we come to the game little Jack-snipe, 

 last in point of size, but not least certainly as far 

 as his edible qualities are concerned, for I think 

 few birds rank higher than he does as a bonne 

 louche. Like his European cousin, he lies very 

 close and is difficult to flush. 



