528 Mr. J. O. Beveii on the 



of observing, and some of the habits and peculiarities of 

 which I have studied. 



Like its allies of Australia and South America Rostratula 

 capensis is known as the Painted Snipe or_, more popularly, 

 the •' Painter.'^ It has a wide distribution, being recorded 

 from Africa through southern Asia to Japan, China, the 

 Malay Archipelago and Peninsula, from India, and, lastly, 

 from Ceylon, where alone I have made observations on the 

 bird. 



In Ceylon it is the only Snipe which is a resident through- 

 out the year, though it is credited by some Avith being a 

 migrant as well. Certain it is that the bird is more 

 commonly met with at certain seasons than at others, being 

 most numerous from September to April, when it is found 

 in the paddy-fields and marshy districts of the low country 

 generally. But the reason for this apparent increase in 

 numbers is not far to seek. The " months with an R'^ — 

 September to April — constitute the " Snipe Season," when 

 thousands of the Pin-tailed Snipe, Gallinago stenura, are found 

 in the paddy-fields and about the great irrigation-tanks of 

 the low country, and sportsmen brave mosquitos, malaria, 

 and all other ills to shoot them. 



During the rest of the year Gallinago stenura' deserts 

 Ceylon, and sportsmen, leaving the paddy-fields with their 

 attendant discomforts alone, turn their attention to other 

 game. Consequently, the " Painter,^^ which does not change 

 its habitat, is but seldom seen, and so the idea has become 

 prevalent that it is a migrant, like its Pin-tailed ally. 



Rostratula is very local in its distribution, and does not 

 occur at elevations above a thousand feet. It is most fre- 

 quently met with in the Southern and Western Provinces 

 of the island and in the salt-marshes round Trincomalee in 

 the east, though it has been recorded at various times from 

 all parts of the low country. I have shot over large tracts 

 of Snipe-ground in the North Western Province and have 

 never seen a Painted Snipe, and in the extreme north, in the 

 course of four months' almost daily shooting among the 

 dense mangrove-swamps which fringe the brackish tanks 



