Birds of Celebes: Charadriidae. 79 J 



of G. stenura are not yet on record; Seebohm met with it on the Yenesei, and 

 Taczanowski remarks that it takes its way to East Siberia for its nidification; 

 it is in E. Siberia that G. megala breeds. G. stenura is, however, said to wander 

 in winter through China, to India, Ceylon, Bnrmah, Tenasserim down the Malay 

 Archipelago to Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Timor. G. megala., on the other hand, 

 is supposed to have a West Pacific migration, passing through China to the 

 Philippines, N. Borneo, Celebes and the Moluccas. As to size, we can see no 

 difference between the two birds; this also was the experience of Legge (11). 

 The only reliable mark of distinction is supposed to be found in the rectrices, 

 of which stenura has 26, the outermost 8 on each side much attenuated (2 to 

 4 mm, according to Seebohm), while megala should have 20, the outermost 6 

 attenuated (4 to 8 mm, Seebohm c .?). We suspect that the two forms are not 

 distinct, but that stenura is simply represented by older individuals, megala by 

 younger ones, or vice- versa. Legge finds the normal number of "pin" tail- 

 feathers in stenura to be six, but "seven and even nine have been detected on 

 careful examination, and Swinhoe speaks of a specimen with only four". As 

 to the total number of rectrices, we have a specimen apparently of G. megala 

 labelled Celebes, with 22 feathers; Schlegel says megala has 18 or 20, and 

 Taczanowski gives 24 to 26 as the number in stenura. The sequence is, there- 

 fore, complete; and we believe that these figures are not easily to be explained 

 on the ground of moulting or shooting away , but that the tail varies with age 

 or individually. 



Another Snipe, which is almost sure to be found in Celebes sooner or later, 

 is G. australis Lath., which Seebohm diagnoses by its having 18 tail-feathers, 

 of which only two on each side are less than 7.6 mm in width; it is also larger 

 than G. megala, viz. wing 152 — 165 mm. It is known from Japan, where it 

 breeds, and from Australia and Tasmania, where it winters. 



GENUS LIMOSA Briss. 



The bill of Limosa has much in common with that of Gallinago, being verj^ 

 long, with the nasal groove continued almost to the tip, but it is upcurved and 

 not pitted at the tip. The tarsus is also longer than the middle toe, and there 

 are 12 rectrices. The size is much larger. 



The bill, with its continuous groove and the gape not overreached by the 

 loral and malar feathers sufficiently distinguishes Limosa from the Totanine forms, 

 and shows its affinities to be more with the Snipes. Dr. Sharp e recognises 

 4 species, breeding in the North and wintering in more southern latitudes of 

 the World. 



