THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 919 



appears to be very rare, if existing at all, in Arabia and Persia ; in 

 all parts of India, Burmah and in the Malayan Peninsula, through- 

 out Southern and Central China to Japan and also in Sumatra, 

 Java, Borneo, Philippines and Formosa. 



In India it is to be found in practically every part of the 

 Continent where there is suitable country for it and, in the same 

 way, it is to be found at a considerable elevation in the Himalayas 

 and other mountain ranges where there are swamps, lakes, etc., 

 for it to live in. In Kashmir it is often met with as late as 

 September, but seems to migrate to lower elevations in the winter. 

 In the Khasia Hills it is found upto 5,000 feet in summer and up 

 to nearly 2,000 feet in winter. I have also records of its ascend- 

 ing the Nilgherries to about the same height and in Travancore 

 it seems to be found up to 3,000 feet as I have had eggs sent me 

 for identification taken at that elevation. 



Naturally, though not migratory in the true sense of the word, 

 the Painted Snipe, being dependent on a water supply, becomes 

 locally migratory in those places in which the water at one season 

 completely dries up. Thus, Adam reported that in the vicinity of 

 the Sambhur Lake, the birds were only seen during the rains but 

 migrated elsewhere in the approach of the hot weather when the 

 lakes dried up. Reid and others note that they are more or less 

 migratory in the Lucknow Division ; and, doubtless, this local 

 migration obtains in many of the drier portions of the N.-YV. Pro- 

 vinces, Oudh and Rajputana. Hume thought that an excess water 

 supply, such as is found in Lower Bengal, also affected their 

 movements ; but this is probably not the case, as they have been 

 shot, and are common, at all seasons of the year in the Sundar- 

 bands, the most watery of all parts, even of watery Bengal. 



Nowhere within its habitat is the Painted Snipe ever found 

 in such vast numbers as is the Common Snipe ; but in certain parts 

 of the country, such as the Sundarbands of Khulna and Jessore, 

 some 30 or 40 birds may be seen in a day's trudge ; and this 

 although the birds do not pack in these districts as they are said to 

 do elsewhere. Thus in Stray Feathers Butler speaks of whisps or 

 flocks of 20 birds, and Hume in Game Birds records that he has 

 seen flocks of a dozen or more birds together at the same time. 



