THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 263 



measurements for both sexes are, Wing 6*41 "; Bill from gape 



2-76"; Tarsus 1-30." The smallest bird, a $ from the Indian 



Museum, has a wing of 6 - 02" and the largest, anunsexed bird from 



the same place, has the wing 6*68". The bills vary in length 



between 2-62" and 3'02" and the tarsi between 1-12" — that of a 



curiously short-legged bird — and 1-5." 



The depth of the bill at the extreme base is only -32" as against 



•5" in that of the Wood Snipe and the length and slenderness of 



the bill of the Solitary Snipe is alone sufficient to distinguish it 



from the other. In general appearance the Solitaiy Snipe 



is a far paler coloured bird than any of the other snipe and this 



difference is even more conspicuous in life than when the bird is 



made into a skin. In build it is also slighter, its neck longer and 



it seems to stand higher on its legs, though its tarsus is really no 



longer than that of the Wood Snipe. 



The British Museum has a fine series of this Snipe, over 40 



specimens, but of these only 1 1 are sexed, 7 females and 4 males, 



and it is hardly safe to generalize as to comparative size of the 



sexes on such scanty material. It is, however, more than possible 



that a large series of sexed birds might show that the female 



Solitary Snipe is bigger than the male, a fact usual, indeed, with 



most known species of the Genus Gallinago. An examination of 



those species of Gallinago of which the British Museum has fairly 



big series shews the following comparative measurements of males 



and females : — 



Males. 

 Bill 



,, paraguayae 2-6 



From the above we find that in the species stenura, megala, and 



pa/raguayae both culmen and wing are longer in the female than 



in the male; in major and frenata the bill is longer but the wing 



shorter, but of the latter species there are only 4 females sexed 



