830 GALLINAGO GALLINULA. 



not record it from Kattiawar. Its earliest date of arrival in this region, as noticed by Capt. Butler, is the 

 23rd of September ; in Sindh, Major Le Messurier speaks of individuals being procured on the 3rd October. 

 In parts of Bengal it is common, occurring locally and uncertainly as regards consecutive seasons. Mr. Hume 

 uotes that a few arc daily brought into the Calcutta bird-market during the time of their visit. In Furreedpore 

 a few couples are met with (Cripps); and at Barrackpore Captain Beavan noticed it about the middle of 

 November. He remarks that it occurs frequently in some years and rarely in others. " I have seen it/' he 

 .says, " in most abundance in a jheel at Bcrkampore, near Moorshedabad ; but the species seems most erratic 

 in its wanderings, and takes to certain spots, where one is sure to come across them year after year, while it 

 entirely avoids just as likely-looking ground within a short distance." In the Bardwan district it has been 

 procured by Mr. Brooks at Assensole. Eastward of the bay it becomes rarer. In Pegu it is now and then 

 met with, says Mr. Oates, being far from common ; to the more southern region of Tenasserim it is a straggler ; 

 but beyond this, in the peninsula, we have no record of its occurrence, and, unlike the two preceding species, 

 it does not cross the water to the Andamans. Mr. Hume, writing of Tenasserim, says, "Captain Dodd, the 

 Master-Attendant at Moulmein, has, on several occasions, shot Jack Snipe in the neighbourhood of that place. 

 We have not ourselves seen specimens ; but there is no doubt about this matter. Captain Bingham also shot 

 one last season" (1877). From the data, therefore, to hand up to the present time we see that the Jaffna 

 peninsula in Ceylon (lat. 9° 30' to 9° 40') is the most southerly Asiatic point of its migration ; and this is about 

 the same parallel which it reaches in North-eastern Africa. 



On the eastern confines of Asia it is not at all common. Swinhoe docs not record it from China, but 

 only mentions it having been once obtained in Formosa. It was likewise not seen by Pere David, who only 

 quotes Swinhoe for its occurrence in Formosa. 



Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer do not include this bird in their Japan list; but Mr. Whitely obtained a 

 specimen at Hakodadi. From Central and Northern Asia we have but little information concerning its 

 habitat. Dr. Scully did not observe it at Yarkand ; it is likewise absent from Dr. Henderson's list (' Lahore 

 to Yarkand ') ; but, on the other hand, in portions of Turkestan M. Severtzofl' records it as occurring on 

 passage, but not found above 4000 feet. 



Its breeding-home, as far as Asia is concerned, is Northern Siberia; but it has not been observed 

 by all naturalists who have visited that region. I find that Von Middeudorff records it as breeding on the 

 Boganida, in 70° N. lat., and he observed it there from the 8th of June until the 31st of August; but there 

 is no mention made of it on the Ob by Dr. Finsch, nor on the Yenesay by Mr. Seebuhm. In Palestine 

 Canon Tristram met with it ; and in Persia Mr. Blant'ord says it is common in suitable localities during the 

 winter months. 



On the continent of Europe it is a more plentiful bird, inhabiting the southern portions in winter, and 

 breeding, aceoi'ding to Von Heuglin, from Central Germany northward to Scandinavia. It inhabits the 

 Mediterranean islands, for in Corsica Mr. B. Wharton met with it ; and in Sardinia it is, according to 

 Mr. A. B. Brooke, common. It appears to be plentiful in Holland, which is a great Snipe-country ; and it 

 occurs in Heligoland on passage. To the British Isles it is a winter visitant : it has now and then been seen 

 during the summer months ; but its nest has never been found within our limits. Mr. Hancock has seen it 

 at Prestwick Car in Northumberland at a time when Redshanks were nesting. In the south of Spain it is 

 common; and near Seville Col. Irby records it as very numerous in certain localities. It appears to be distri- 

 buted along the northern shores of Africa in a similar manner to the last species. Favier, as quoted by 

 Col. Irby, states that it arrives in the Tangier district in November and leaves in February ; and Mr. Gurney 

 and Canon Tristram i - ecord it from Algiers. In Lower Egypt, Captain Shelley remarks that it is common, 

 frequenting, like the last, the Fayoom and the lake at Erment ; it was observed by him at Dendera as late as 

 the '21th March. Von Heuglin has noticed it still later, namely, in the month of May, and is of opinion that 

 it may perhaps breed in the Nile delta, as he obtained males in the spring with the organs developed. It was 

 observed on the Blue Nile by Brehm and Vierthaler ; and this is its most southerly African limit. 



Habits. — This beautiful species, the smallest of its family, frequents marshy ground which is overgrown 

 with thick grass, the boggy banks of small streams, sedgy morasses, and wet moors, where the turf is spongy ; 

 and in India is found with other Snipe in rice-fields, by the sides of jheels, and such-like places. It is noted 



