THE PITAL SNIPE. 
(0—_—_—— 
Gallinago sthenura,* Bonaparte. 
0 
Vernacular Names.t—[Chaha, WV. W. Provinces, Oudh; Bharka, Bharak, 
(Hindee), Central Himalayas, Nepal, &c.; Chegga, Cheyga., Lower Bengal ; 
Cherayga, Dibrugarh, Assam; Check lonbi, Manipur; Tibud, Pan-lawa, 
(Mahrati), Ratvagiri ; More-oolan, Oolan (Tamil), Muku-puredi, (Telegu), 
Southern India; Kada-kecho, Orissa; Ket-batta, (Lurka Koles), Birku, 
Malay Peninsula ; Kas-watua, Ceylon ; ] 
0ot—_—— 
HAVE no authentic record of the occurrence of this 
species in the Himalayas west of the Jumna, nor 
in the Punjab, Trans-Sutlej, (though stragglers may 
prove to occur there), and it is ercesstvely rare in the 
Punjab, Cis-Sutlej, in the N. W. Provinces{ and 
Oudh§ (except in Gorakhpur, Basti, and the submon- 
Cy tane tracts of Oudh and Rohilkhand), in Rajputana, 
Sindh,|] Cutch and Kathiawar. Indeed, from the two latter, 
though doubtless straggling thither also, it has not yet been 
recorded. 
* Although this name was written from the. first sthemura, modern writers take 
it upon themselves to change it to stenura, on the ground that it must have been 
intended to refer to the narrowness of the lateral tail feathers, and must hence have 
been derived from o7Tevoc, ‘narrow,’ and cannot have been derived from obevoc, 
‘strength.’ To me this appears a wholly unwarrantable assumption. There is nothing 
to show that the stiffness or strength of the tail feathers was not the point indicated 
by the name, and [I shall certainly continue to spell this in the manner adopted by 
the authority (Bonaparte) who first published it. 
+ All these names appear to be indifferently applied to this and the next species. 
+ ‘* During fifteen years, spent chiefly in the Mirat, Aligarh, Mainpuri and 
Etawah districts of the N.W. Provinces, I never once came across this species. 
To my knowledge, however, two or three have been killed in the Doab, and I 
myself obtained one in the Dun. But this species isa mere chance straggler to 
the N. W. Provinces, north of the Jumna; in Jhansi and Bundelkhand it is less 
rare.” —A. O. Hume. 
‘*An Eastern species, and possibly unknown in the Doab ; fairly common in 
rank high grass, along the watercourses in Northern Oudh, and occasionally met 
with further south. I got one at Sitapur.”,—A. Anderson. 
§ ‘It is possible that I may have overlooked this species, before special atten- 
tion was directed to it in Stray Feathers in 1873. Since then, however, shoot- 
ing constantly as I do, and giving Snipe a full share of attention, I have only 
met with a single specimen in the Lucknow Division, and that in too mangled a 
condition to be worth preserving.” —George Reid. 
|| Very few Pintails, indeed, have been observed in Sindh. Colonel Lemesurier, 
an enthusiastic Snipe shot, wrote to me from Sindh :—‘‘I have not shot a Pin-tailed 
Snipe since 1872. I have the side tail feathers still by me. They are 15 long, 
stiff and curved, six on each side, of a dusky colour, with yellow tips,” 
