A Manual of Philippine Birds. Richard C. McGregor
primary-coverts ashy; quills ashy below, secondaries fringed with white at the ends. ‘Basal half of upper bill horny, distal half blackish brown; basal half of lower bill greenish, remainder blackish brown; feet greenish; iris brown.’ (Cripps.) Length, 223; culmen, 58; wing, 124; tail, 48; tarsus, 30.
“Adult female.—Does not perceptibly differ from the male in color and markings. Length, 240; culmen, 62; wing, 129; tail, 44; tarsus, 30.
“It is very difficult to distinguish young birds from old ones, and I believe that the only characters of any value are the uniform black stripes along the sides of the crown. In old birds, not only are these black stripes mottled with rufous, but there are also numerous small spots of rufous-buff interspersed among the black feathers of the back; the black subterminal marks on the scapulars are also smaller in the young birds than in the old. A further sign of immaturity is, I believe, to be seen in the nearly uniform fulvous-brown on the throat and fore neck, these portions being more mottled with lines and arrow-head spots of black in the old birds.
“From G. gallinago the present species is distinguished by the wire-like feathers in the tail and by the entire surface of the under wing-coverts being regularly barred with black and white, and the outer web of the first primary being whity-brown instead of pure white. Occasionally young birds of G. stenura have the whole of the breast and abdomen regularly barred with dusky.” (Sharpe.)
122. GALLINAGO MEGALA Swinhoe.
SWINHOE’S SNIPE.
Gallinago megala Swinhoe, Ibis (1861), 343; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 624; Hand-List (1899), 1, 165; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 29.
Can-du-ro′, Manila.
Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Steere Exp., McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Cebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Jagor, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Eastern Siberia and Japan; in winter China south to the Moluccas.
“Adult male.—Similar to G. stenura, and with wire-like outer tail-feathers, but these not so narrow and showing at least two distinct bars towards the ends; the tail-feathers twenty in number, of which the seven outer ones are attenuated, and only the six central ones show the characteristic broad subterminal band of rufous. ‘Bill light yellowish brown for basal two-thirds, yellower on base of under mandible, blackish brown on apical third; feet light yellowish gray, with blackish brown claws; iris dark umber brown.’ (Swinhoe.) Length, 240; culmen, 58; wing, 137; tail, 55; tarsus, 34.
“Adult female.—Does not differ from the male. ‘Legs and feet pale bluish gray, nails black.’ (Everett.) Length, 267; culmen, 66; wing, 142; tail, 55; tarsus, 33.
“Young birds.—As with G. stenura so with the present species, the young birds appear to be distinguishable by their more uniform dark brown throat and chest; the stripes on the sides of the crown are also black and not mottled with rufous spots.” (Sharpe.)
“Extremely abundant in rice-fields at certain seasons.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
123. GALLINAGO GALLINAGO (Linnæus).
FANTAIL SNIPE.
Scolopax gallinago Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 147.
Gallinago gallinago Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 633; Hand-List (1899), 1, 165; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 61; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 29.
Gallinago cœlestis Oates, Bds. Brit. Burmah (1883), 2, 381.
Can-du-ro′, Manila and Mindoro.
Bohol (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Mearns); Mindoro (McGregor). Europe to northern Asia; in winter Senegambia and northeastern Africa, Indian Peninsula to Malay Peninsula and the Moluccas.
“Male and female.—Crown black with a fulvous streak over median line; a blackish streak from bill to eye, above and below which the feathers are pale fulvous; chin whitish; throat and sides of head and neck fulvous, streaked with black; breast and sides of body fulvous, barred with black; abdomen and vent white; under tail-coverts fulvous, streaked with brown; under wing-coverts barred indistinctly with black and white; tail black, the end rufous mottled with black; upper plumage black, edged and streaked with rich fulvous and chestnut; wing-coverts black, barred with fulvous; quills dark brown, narrowly edged with whitish. Bill fleshy brownish, green for two-thirds of its length from base, remainder horny brown; iris very dark brown; legs and feet brownish green. Length, 267; tail, 61; wing, 127; tarsus, 30; bill from gape, 58.” (Oates.)
“Adult female.—Similar to the male. Length, 267; culmen, 71; wing, 135; tail, 62; tarsus, 33.
“Young.—Differs from the adult in being more rufous, especially on the throat and neck. The black markings of the back are more broken up and mottled with rufous bars, and the pale outer bands along the scapulars are not so wide. Seebohm states that young snipes may be recognized by not having a dark shaft-line on the light tips of the upper wing-coverts, but I have found indications of the latter in quite young birds.
“Nestling.—Covered with down of a chestnut color, interspersed with black along the back, and prettily variegated with silvery tips to the feathers; below the eye a whitish streak, bordered with lines of black; under surface of body bright chestnut, with a black spot on the throat and a black line across the fore neck.” (Sharpe.)
“This species and G. stenura are likely to be confounded unless special attention is paid to the differences between them. The first and most unfailing point of difference is in the tail. In G. gallinago the tail is composed of twelve, fourteen, or sixteen ordinary soft feathers; in G. stenura there are ten soft feathers and on either side of these a number, varying from five to nine, of narrow rigid feathers with apparently no webs. These narrow feathers require to be looked for; they do not strike the eye, as they are more or less hidden by the tail-coverts and are moreover very close together. A second point of difference lies in the coloration of the lower surface of the wing. In the pintail snipe the axillars and the under wing-coverts are very distinctly and regularly barred with dark brown throughout. In the common snipe these same parts are indistinctly barred, and there is always a patch on the coverts left quite white and unbarred. Mr. Hume points out one or two additional differences which it may be well to quote: In the common snipe the outer web of the first primary is white or nearly so, and the secondaries are broadly tipped with white; in the pintail the outer web of the first primary is of the same color as the inner, and the secondaries are only margined with albescent or brownish white.” (Oates.)
Genus ROSTRATULA Vieillot, 1816.
Bill long and slender but shorter than in Gallinago, its tip slightly swollen and bent downward with a median ridge and two lateral grooves, not pitted; culmen little longer than tarsus; female brighter in plumage than male.
124. ROSTRATULA CAPENSIS (Linnæus).
PAINTED SNIPE.
Scolopax capensis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 246.
Rostratula capensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 683; Hand-List (1899), 1, 167; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds.