760 GALLINAGO 



Poynting, p. 115, -pi. 25; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iv. p. 286 ; 

 Scolopax gallinago, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 244 ; Naum. viii. p. 310, 

 Taf. 209 j Hewitson, ii. p. 353, pi. xcviii. ; Gould, B. of E. iv. 

 pi. 321, fig. 2 ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. p. 346 ; (Sharpe), Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. xxiv. p. 633 ; Lilford, v. p. 63, pi. 26 ; (Ridgway), 

 p. 150 ; G. scolopacina, Bp. Comp. List. p. 52 (1838) ; Tacz. 

 F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 960 ; Gould, B. of Gt. Brit. iv. pi. 79 ; David 

 and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 478 ; G. sabinii (Vigors), Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xiv. p. 557 (1825) ; Gould, B. of E. iv. pi. 321, fig. 1 ; 

 Lilford, v. p. 64, pi. 27 ; Poynting, p. 115, pi. 25. 



Ch&vre volante, French ; Narseja ordinaria, Portug. ; Aga- 

 chadiza, Span. ; Beccacino reale, Ital. ; Moorschnepfe, German ; 

 Watermip, Dutch ; Myrispita, Icel. ; Dobbelt Bekkasin, Dan. ; 

 Enkelt Bekkasin, Norweg. ; Enkelbeckasin, Swed. ; Makastak, 

 Lapp. ; Taivan-vuohi, Taivan-jaari, Finn. ; Bekass, BaracMk, 

 Russ. ; Choseh, Arab. ; Boumonkar, Moor. ; Chaha, Bharak, 

 Hindu. ; Ji-shigi, Jap. 



<J ad. (England). Crown blackish brown with a central and two 

 lateral buff stripes ; upper parts black ^zaried with rufous and 

 warm buff, the last forming long lines on each side of the back ; quills 

 blackish, the first margined and the wing-coverts tipped and slightly 

 barred with dull white ; middle tail-feathers black tipped with rufous 

 marbled and barred with black, the rest rufous buff barred with blackish ; 

 lores blackish ; neck, throat, and upper breast buffy white varied with 

 blackish ; flanks and axillaries white barred with blackish ; bill pale 

 reddish brown at the base, otherwise dark brown ; legs pale greenish ; iris 

 dark brown. Culmen 2*8, wing 5*1, tail 2*4, tarsus 1*35. Female similar 

 but a trifle larger. The young bird is duller in colour, and is more rufous, 

 especially on the breast and neck. 



Sabine's Snipe (G. sabinii) is merely a melanite form. 



Hob. Europe generally, north to about 69 N. lat. ; Iceland, 

 Greenland ; Madeira, Canaries, and Azores ; North Africa and 

 Southern Europe in winter; Asia north to Kamchatka, east 

 to Japan, south in winter to India, China, and as far south as 

 Batchian ; of accidental occurrence in Bermuda. 



Inhabits marshes and damp localities, and is as a rule shy 

 and wary. Though not strictly nocturnal it is crepuscular, 

 feeding in the early morning and late evening, its food con- 

 sisting chiefly of worms, in search of which it probes with its 

 bill, the terminal portion of which is soft and sensitive. Its 

 note is a double cluck, tjick-tjuck, tjick-tjuck, and in the spring 

 it produces, when on the wing, a peculiar drumming or bleating 

 sound, caused by the stiff tail feathers as the bird drops 

 swiftly through the air with extended tail. The nest is a 



