LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. ie 
The bird was shot by Lieutenant Dupnier of the 98th Regiment 
here and sent to me. 
The birds are, I am told, plentiful above eight miles out of 
Kurrachee, associated with Swainsont. - 
James Murray. 
Sir 
I am in hopes that a few notes, although from an un- 
scientific observer, upon Gallinago nemoricola, may be welcome 
to you. 
During 18 years residence in the Wynaad Ihave only 
seen seven of these birds, of which three were bagged. 
Until to-day I always called them ‘folitary Snipe,” but to- 
day I had the advantage of comparing one of them with your 
notes in Vol. III of “ Game Birps or Inpia,”’ and I discovered 
that it was a nemoricola. 
When once the “ more conspicuous differences,’ as pointed 
out by you, are known, it would be of course almost impos- 
sible to mistake nemoricola for solitaria. In fact I may say 
that I found these a better guide even than the coloured plates. 
Being thus indebted to you, it struck me that the least I 
could do would be to send you the little information I have on 
the subject, especially as some of it differs from what you 
have written in the “ Game Birps.” 
On 31st December 1879 Mr. A, W. Rees and 1 flushed three 
of these nemoricola in a very retired rushy swamp, where I had 
in former years seen Bison (Gaur), the swamp being the 
nearest point to civilisation, which the Bison about there ever 
reach, 
Of the three we bagged, two, one to each gun, they were 
evidently male and female, as they weighed 64 and 81 oz. 
respectively. The three birds were flushed within 50 yards of 
each other. 
I have always intended paying another visit to that swamp, 
known as the Makki Poyil, but was never able to do so until to- 
day, when my wife and I drove out seven miles in the early morn- 
ing, and I picked up four couple of Pintail and a Spurfowl on the 
way. Leaving my wife in the curricle I got on to the ground 
where I expected to find the nemorico/a, and quartered the 
ground carefully with two coolies, two spaniels, and a bull 
terrier, but after going over the whole of the swamp where we 
had seen them in 1879 we found nothing. I went on to the 
head of the valley to see if there were any fresh tracks of Bison, 
but found none; and on my way back flushed a nemoricola 
within a few yards of where we had found them in 1879. I 
missed him with my first barrel as I was excited at having 
