The Snipes. 457 



the Himalayas. In winter this species 

 is found over a considerable portion of 

 Northern Africa, in Arabia, Persia, India, 

 and the Malayan countries as far as the 

 Philippine Islands. 



Many Snipes of this species appear to 

 summer in the Himalayas, or are perhaps 

 resident there, coming down to lower 

 elevations in the winter, but there is no 

 precise information on this point. 



Although the Common Snipe has been 

 shot in India as early as the third week 

 of August, it does not usually arrive in 

 considerable quantities till the commence- 

 ment of September. Most of these birds 

 return north in March, but in some 

 favourable localities a few birds remain 

 on till April or May or even, very occa- 

 sionally, till June. , 



The winter habits of the Common 

 Snipe in India are so well known, or can 

 be so easily investigated, that I do not 

 propose to say much about them. The 

 young sportsman will find that, in the 

 course of a week's shooting, he will learn 

 nearly all that there is to learn about 

 Snipes and their ways in India. 



The distribution of the Common Snipe 

 is determined chiefly by the nature of the 

 ground. The extremely sensitive bill of 



