Gallinago sthenura,* Bonaparte.
VERAAOULAR ITAMES.t—[Cbaha, N. W, Provinces, Oudh; Bharka, Bharak,
(Hindee), Central Himalayas, Nepal, &*£•.; Chegga, Cheyga, Lozver Bengal;
Cherayga, Dibrugarh, Assam; Check lonbi, Manipur; Tibud, Pan-lawa,
(Mahrati), Ratnagiri; More-oolan, Oolan (Tamil), Muku-puredi, (Telega),
Southern India; Kada-kecho, Orissa; Kel-batta, (Lurka Koles), Birkii,
Malay Peninsula ; Kas-watua, Ceylon ; J
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 excessively rare in the
Punjab, Cis-Sutlej, in the N. W. Provinces \ and
Oudh§ (except in Gorakhpur, Bastt, and the submontane
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 sthenura, 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 GTZVOQ, 'narrow,' and cannot have been derived from (TOEVOQ,
' 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.
f All these names appear to be indifferently applied to this and the next species.
J " 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 is a mere chance straggler to
the N. W. Provinces, north of the Jumna ; in Jhansi and Bundelkhand it is leS3
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 attention
was directed to it in Stray Feathers in 1873. Since then, however, shooting
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 1S72. I have the side tail feathers still by me. They are Iy{ long,
stiff and curved, six on each side, of a dusky colour, with yellow tips."