I920.] Cape San Antonio , Buenos Ay res. 65 



398. Ehynchaea semicollaris Vieill. Painted Snipe. 



This very pretty Snipe is as common in our district as 

 the previous species is scarce. A note in my diary, for 

 example, says (under date 15 February, 1899): "On one 

 narrow strip of wet sedgy ground, about 150x30 yards, 

 situated amidst canadas, I walked-up some twenty-five birds; 

 these di(f not rise in a wisp but individually, and looked 

 like so many large butterflies from their bright colouring 

 and erratic flight." It so happened that I wanted one 

 or two specimens at the time, and it is illustrative of the 

 feeble and short nature of the said flight that I never had a 

 satisfactory opportunity of firing a single shot — notwith- 

 standing a collecting-gun and No. 10 cartridges. A bird 

 would rise at my very feet, flicker aimlessly for a few yards 

 whilst I gave it some " law,^'' and then drop like a stone 

 again into the covert. I felt exasperated to the point of 

 throwing the fire-arm itself at such a ridiculously unsporting 

 member of a real game-bird family, or going home for a 

 pocketful of brickbats in order to carry on the chase 

 (as a matter of fact, it is not unfrequently knocked down 

 with a riding-whip). However, it is not often seen col- 

 lectively in such large numbers as the preceding ; pairs are 

 general, single birds occasional ; a wisp of three or four may 

 be a family party. My own observations of its habits are 

 similar to those of Mr. Hudson and lead me to the same 

 conclusion — that they are of a nocturnal or crepuscular 

 nature. 



The nesting-period is extensive, ranging from the 15th of 

 September to the 15th of January, but the bulk of seventeen 

 nests noted between 1874 and 1916 are embraced in the 

 period — middle of October to middle of December. The 

 nest is a mere '' scrape " or hollow, occasionally lined with a 

 few bits of dry grass, sheltered by a samphire plant or tufts 

 of grass, and situated in marshy ground contiguous to a 

 swamp. The parent bird sits close, and sometimes will 

 hardly move from the vicinity of the nest. 



The two eggs are oval-shaped, some being more elongated 

 than others, but all are bluntly pointed at the smaller end. 



SER. XI. VOL. II. r 



