On the Painted Snipe in Ceylon. 527 



Garrulus caspius and the third to G. kt'ynicJd. The 

 hist shoukl be qvieried (?), as the lo\Ylands of tlie Talysch 

 are the home of G. caspius.'] 

 [Among the less important misprints are the following : 



on p. 403, 1. 5 from below, for ' Lemback ^ read ' Lembach ' ; 



p. 424, 1, 12 from above, for 'Waschbunk' read ' Wasch- 



bank ' ; p. 428, 1. 29 from below, for ' Cerwa ' read ' Cerva ' ; 



p. 473, 1, 2 from below, for ' Anderach ' read ' Andernach ' ; 



p. 490, 1. 11 from above, for ' Eleubf ' read ' Elbeuf.'] 



XXX. — Notes and Observations on the Painted Snipe 

 (Uostratula capensis) in Ceylon. By J. O. Beven, B.A. 

 (Christ's College, Cambridge). 



The genus Rostratula, consisting of only three species, has a 

 wide distribution in the world, and has attracted some 

 attention, owing to the fact that its members afford an 

 example of a typical sexual dimorphism, the females of all 

 three species being more conspicuous than their mates, both 

 as regards size and jDlumage. 



Common though this " superiority " of the female is 

 among the Insects and some other Invertebrate groups, it is 

 extremely rare aiuong Birds, and Darwin, in the ' Descent of 

 Man,' quotes the Painted Suipe as an example of it. 



The females of the genus Turnix, of two species of Phala- 

 rope [P. hyperboreus and P. fulicarius) , of the Cassowary 

 (Casuarius) , and of one or two other birds, excel their mates 

 as regards size, but in none of them is the difference between 

 the sexes so marked as it is in Rostratula, where, in 

 addition, the females are very much more brightly coloured 

 and also possess a more complicated arrangement of the 

 trachea than do the males. 



There are three known species of Rostratula : R. australis, 

 inhabiting the Australian region ; R. semicollaris, found in 

 Patagonia, Chili, and other parts of South America ; and 

 R. capensis f the only one which I have had the opportunity 



