191. Gallinago gallinula.
THE JACK SNIPE.
Gallinula — a, chicken; diminutive of gallina =a, hen. Chota bharka, Nepal; Oolan, Madras; Tibud, Ratnagiri.
Male 7 3/4" to 9"; 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 oz. Female 8 1/2". Legs green-grey. Bill 1 1/2" to 1 3/4", blackish. Back black, glossed green. Two yellow bands from shoulder to tail. Four notches on posterior margin of breast-bone. Tail of twelve feathers of uniform width, dark brown, bordered buff, Remiges twenty-four. Axillaries white. Flight straight and rapid, beginning in silence, with a few zigzags. Formerly considered as the male of G. caelestis. Occur in Asia Minor, Palestine, N. Africa, Mediterranean, and Europe, excluding Atlantic isles, Faroes, and Iceland. A winter visitant to India, summering and breeding north of 60° N. lat. to far within Arctic circle. Four eggs (1.5 x 1.1), olive, spotted red-brown, remarkable for their large size, each weighing more than 1 1/2 oz., while the bird itself weighs but 2 1/2 oz. (J. 872. B. 1487. H. & M. iii. 373.)
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