820 GALLIXAGO STENURA. 



Tliis species feeds almost entirely on aquatic insects of various size ; for I have found small Coleoptera in 

 the stomachs of some I have examined ; and in India caterpillars have heen found occasionally ; and when at 

 the close of the season they frequent mud hanks, where I have seen them on the Gindurah river, they no 

 doubt feed ou mollusks and Crustacea. Mr. Davison writes to Mr. Hume of a Pin-tailed Snipe seen in the 

 Andamans : — "On the 27th of December I saw one of these birds feeding on the shore about 2 p.m. It was 

 running hither and thither, like an Actitis" (Sandpiper). It would have" been interesting to have examined 

 the stomach of this bird and recorded its contents. 



The note of this species is a sc-ape or ps-ape, like that of the Common Snipe, but not quite so harsh in 

 sound. Its flight, when it happens to be "wild," is just as swift, though perhaps a little steadier. When 

 found in quiet unfrequented spots, where it is sometimes very tame, it lies close and flies sluggishly for a short 

 distance; and I have even seen it rise trailing its legs like a Rail. I have noticed this occur on very hot 

 afternoons, when the bird has in all probability been feeding undisturbed during the morning, and has become 

 thoroughly satiated and lazy. When running they project the neck forward and droop the bill slightly ; and 

 the movement of their legs is not swift, as those of a Sandpiper. 



The Pin-tailed Snipe affords excellent shooting; and there is, in fact, no other bird-sport to be had in the 

 island, as the Bush-Quail are not abundant enough, and the Red-legged Partridges, as we have seen, are 

 confined to certain localities. The largest bags are made in the Trincomalie and Kurunegala districts, in the 

 former of which, during my residence in the island, 71^ couple were on one occasion killed by an officer, Lieut. 

 Preston, of the 73rd Regiment. I am under the impression that as great a number have been killed to one gun 

 in the neighbourhood of Kurunegala; but I am not in possession of data to enable me to speak positively. 



Nidificat'ion. — The only information we have concerning the breeding of this species is from the pens of 

 Col. Prjevalsky and Mr. Seebohm. With reference to the Ussuri river, where it nests in the month of April. 

 the former writes ('Birds of Mongolia') : — "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 down- 

 wards with 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." Mr. Seebohm 

 met with it on the Arctic circle, and observes (Ibis, 1879, p. 155) as follows : — " They used to come wheeling 

 round, utteriug a loud and rather shrill cry (some idea of which may be gathered by the sound of the word 

 peezh, long drawn out) ; then they used to drop down with a great whirr of wings, and with tail outspread — 

 an operation which seemed so engrossing that they appeared seldom to discover until they were on the ground 

 that they had chosen a spot to alight within twenty yards of a man with a gun. It was amusing to see them 

 find out their mistake. Sometimes as soon as they caught my eye they would take wing and fly quietly away ; 

 but more often they would hurry off as fast as their legs could carry them, and hide behind a tuft of grass or 

 a bush. I never heard the Pin-tailed Snipe ' drum/ as the Common Snipe often does, when wheeling round 

 and round at a considerable height in the air ; nor did I ever hear the tyik-tyuk so characteristic of the 

 Common Snipe." 



It is noteworthy that while one writer speaks so clearly of the drumming noise, the other did not hear it. 

 Col. Prjevalsky, though he writes of the species under the name of Gallinago heterocerca, Cabanis, can refer 

 to no other than the present bird, more particularly as the next species he notices is G. megala, which, 

 together with the Pin-tailed Snipe, are the only species found in this region. Mr. Harting considers that 

 G. heterocerca, Cab.,= G. megala. 



The discovery of the nest and eggs remains yet to reward the labours of some adventurous ornithologist 

 in these northern regions. 



