416 CHAEADHIIDiE GALLINAGO 



— Cape division (S. A. Mus.), East London in summer (Wood), 

 King William's Town (Trevelyan) ; Natal — November (Brit. Mus.) ; 

 Transvaal — Potchefstroom, September to April (Ayres) ; Bechuana- 

 land — Tebra country, near Lake Ngami, April (Eriksson) ; German 

 South-west Africa — Ondonga, February (x\ndersson) . 



Habits. — Though few observations have been made on the habits 

 of the Double Snipe in South Africa, it does not seem to differ at all 

 from the Ethiopian Snipe in this respect. Though the majority of 

 birds reach South Africa in September or October, Ayres states that 

 a few individuals may be found at all times of the year. They are 

 found singly or in pairs, seldom in larger numbers, on marshy 

 ground and about swampy vleis, and feed on soft beetles and other 

 insects. Mr. Wood tells me that there are always a few pairs on the 

 mud banks of the tidal rivers in the neighbourhood of Bast London 

 during the summer {i.e., between October and March). 



752. Gallinago nigripennis. Ethiopian Snipe. 



Gallinago nigripennis, Bp., Icon. Faun. Ital. Ucc. text to pi. 43 (1832) ; 



Gurnci), Ibis, 1864, p. 355 [Natal] ; 1868, p. 51 ; Holuh ^ Pelz., Orn. 



Siid-Afr. p. 293 (1882) ; Shelley, Ibis, 1882, p. 366 [Mashonaland] ; 



Sliaiye, ed. Layard'sB. S. Afr. p. 676 (1884) ; Ayres, Ibis, 1885, p. 347 ; 



Nicolls and Eglington, S2)ortsm. 8. Afr. p. 130 (1892) ; Sharpe, Cat. 



B. M. xxiv, p. 631 (1896) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 192 (1896) ; Wood- 

 ward Bros., Natal B. p. 188 (1899); Marshall, Ibis, 1900, p. 265; 



Beichenoiv, Vbg. Afr. i, p. 236 (1900) ; Haac/ner, Ibis, 1902, p. 574 ; 



Dates, Cat. B. Eggs, ii, pp. 60, 357 pi. ii, fig. 3 (1902) ; Sharjje, Ibis, 



1904, p. 11 [Deelfontein]. 

 Gallinago aequatorialis, Biqii)., Syst. Uebers. pp. 123, 126 (1845) ; Layard, 



B. S. Afr. p. 333 (1867); Gurneij, Ibis, 1868, p. 261; Ayres, Ibis, 



1869, p. 302, 1878, pp. 301, 411 ; Layard, Ibis, 1869, p. 377 ; Biu-klcy, 



Ibis, 1874, p. 388; Barratt, Ibis, 1876, p. 212; Butler, Feilden and 



Reid, Zool. 1882, p. 425. 

 Gallinago macrodactyla (nee Bp.) Gurney, in Anderson's B. Damaral. 



p. 312 (1872). 

 Scolopax ffiquatorialis, Seebohm, Ibis, 1886, p. 136, 1887, p. 344; id. 



Geogr. Distr. Charadr. p. 500, with fig. of tail (1888). 

 " Black-quilled Snipe " of some authors ; " Spook-vogel," of the Dutch ; 



"Kue-kue Lemao" of the Basutos (Murray). 



Description. Adult JfaZe.— Closely resembling G. major, but 

 darker and more richly coloured, the back having a velvety gloss 

 and the buff a richer tinge ; the other distinguishing marks are the 

 much narrower and less conspicuous white tips to the wing-coverts ; 



