Genus— S UBSPILURA nov. 
Type Gallinago megala Swinhoe. 
Gallinagine birds with twenty tail-feathers, the outer ones attenuated. 
The bill is very long, straight and thin, not much expanded at the tip, 
neither is it noticeably wide nor deep at the base ; it is grooved along the 
upper mandible, but the groove becomes obsolete towards the tip where the 
bill is punctulate or wrinkled ; the tip of the upper mandible extends beyond 
the lower mandible and is thickened at that point ; an obsolete grooving can 
be seen along the side of the lower mandible, which is likewise punctulate 
and wrinkled towards the tip. The nostrils are short slits at the base of the 
bill. The wing is pointed with the first primary longest, and is a little more 
than twice the length of the culmen. The tibia is unfeathered for a short 
distance and the metatarsus, which is short, is regularly scutellated before 
and behind ; the metatarsus is a little more than half the length of the bill. 
The toes are long and there is no webbing between them ; the middle toe 
is very little shorter than the metatarsus, and with the claw much exceeds it. 
The hind toe and claw are long. The tail is composed of twenty feathers, 
regiilarly rounded save that the two central ones are very broad and 
generally much longer. From the centre to the outside the tad-feathers 
become thin, so that the outside five on each side are less than 3 mm. in 
breadth, the outermost being the most attenuated. 
In the genus Spilura the tail-feathers are twenty-six in number, and 
eight on each side are very attenuated; these are also much shorter than 
the middle ones, but in Suhspilura no such distinction in size is seen. 
On facing page I give accurate drawings of the tails of Ditelmatias 
TiardwicTcii (Gray) and Suhspilura inegala (Swinhoe), for the guidance of 
Australian ornithologists. I might also point out that the latter may 
perhaps occur regularly on the East coast, as specimens have been procured 
in New Guinea. 
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