92 THE BIRDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



of May, and has not been seen in the Hoang-ho valley, where the following 

 species breeds numerously ; but as it is very difficult to distinguish it from 

 the latter when on the wing, we cannot state the above with certainty. 



In Gobi we several times observed it during migration ; but perhaps it 

 might have been G. megala. It is doubtful. Neither occurs in Kan-su and 

 about Koko-nor. 



It breeds in tolerable numbers on the Ussuri, but is still more plentiful 

 during migration, about the 10th of April and in the end of August. 



In the latter half of April the birds choose their nesting-localities in the 

 thinly overgrown marshes, and their peculiar courting commences. Rising 

 into the air, similar to our G. scolopacina, and describing large circles above 

 the spot where the female is sitting, it suddenly dashes downwards Avith 

 great noise (which is most likely produced by the tail-feathers, like that 

 made by our species, and somewhat resembles the noise of a broken rocket). 

 As the bird approaches the ground the noise increases, until it has got 

 within a hundred yards, when it suddenly stops the sound and quietly flies on, 

 uttering a note something like " tiric, tiric, tiric." Courtship lasts until the 

 middle of June, and is mostly heard or seen in the mornings and evenings, 

 but occasionally in the daytime, and even at night in clear weather. 



246. Gallinago megala, Swinh. 



G. stenura, Radde, Reisen im Siiden von Ost-Sibirien, ii. pi. xiii. 



Breeds abundantly on the marshes and lakes in the Hoang-ho valley. 

 We also noticed some of the present and preceding species in the western 

 portion of the Urot country, where they probably were breeding. 



At Lake Hanka G. megala appears later than G. heterocerca, namely in 

 the end of April ; but the principal migration takes place about the middle 

 of May. It stops to breed there only in very limited numbers, but becomes 

 again numerous in August during migration. In spring it keeps to the 

 burnt marshes, and in autumn to the damp steppes. 



