AVES CHARADRIID^; 341 



Neck: Tawny buff above and below, palest and unmarked on the 

 chin ; mottled and brokenly or irregularly barred elsewhere. 



Back : Of the characteristic snipe pattern but the light streaks along 

 the scapulars and the sides of the back not well defined, though apparent. 



Tail : Normally of sixteen feathers, but often having only fourteen. 

 Regtilarly barred black and mifous. The rufous of a dull tone and the 

 black bars wider than the rufous ones. 



Wing : Primary coverts plain brown, with fringing and slight mark- 

 ings of sandy buff at their tips. Primaries plain brown. The exposed 

 outer web of the first primary brown with regular indentations of sandy 

 buff, giving this part of the feather a chequered appearance. The sec- 

 ondary quills barred rufous and black, the rufous bars being the wider. 

 The inner greater wing coverts are barred in a similar manner externally. 



Lower parts : Under surface of the body sandy buff, palest on the chin, 

 mottled and irregularly barred on the neck and breast, in the character- 

 istic way. The abdomen clear sandy buff and the sides, flanks and under 

 tail coverts barred with black or blackish. The under wing coverts and 

 axillaries sandy buff barred with dark brown, the brown bars being wider. 



The sexes are alike in appearance. 



" Feet greyish yellow." (Dr. Coppinger.) 



"Female: Swallow Bay, March 14, 1880. Eyes dark; legs and feet 

 greyish yellow. Weight 9 oz." (Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 15.) 



Geographical Distribution. Extreme southern South America, Tierra 

 del Fuego and the region about the Straits of Magellan. 



This snipe was not observed or collected by the naturalists of the 

 Princeton Expeditions. The description given is based on the material 

 in the British Museum of Natural History. 



Genus ROSTRATULA Vieillot. 



Type. 



Rostratula, Vieill. Analyse, p. 56 (1816) ; Sharpe, Cat. Bds. 



Brit. Mus. XXIV. p. 683 (1896) ; id., Hand-list Bds. 



I. p. 167(1899) R. capensis. 



Rhynchcea, Cuv. Regne, Anim. I, p. 487 (1817) . . R. capensis. 



