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 
notes that a few are 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 Berhampore, 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 .Talma 
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 does 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 Ilakodadi. 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. Severtzoff records it as occurring on 
passage, but not found above 4000 feet. 
Its brecdiug-liome, 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 Yon Middendorff records it as breeding on the 
Boganida, in 70° N. lat., and he observed it there from the 8tli 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. Seebohm. In Palestine 
Canon Tristram met with it ; and in Persia Mr. Blanford 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, according to Yon 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 record 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 24th 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 
