and as a fact Radde once saw it near Lake Iltschir in the
Saj'an Mountains. None of our explorers observed it anywhere
in Eastern Turkestan (Yarkand), and in Western Turkestan
it is only seen on passage. On the other hand, in Afghanistan
and Beluchistan and throughout Persia, it is in winter,
in proportion to the Common Snipe, quite as common as, or perhaps
even commoner than, it is in India, and we might conclude
that the migration was a south-easterly and north-westerly
one, and that birds reached us from the west and from thence
spread over the Empire, were it not that they reach the valley
of Nepal, and even the neighbourhood of Calcutta earlier
than they reach Jacobabad. We might conclude that the
birds breeding in Northern Siberia, west of the iooth parallel
of E. Latitude, (east of which it scarcely seems to extend) came
down nearly due north and south almost without halting some
2,500 miles to India, much as the Great Snipe of Europe
( G. major) is supposed to traverse the entire Continent of Africa
from north to south ; but looking to the comparatively feeble
flight of this species, this seems unlikely, and the probability is,
that the non-record of the Jack Snipe in Eastern Turkestan
is due partly to the very imperfect manner in which our
officers have, as yet, been able to work that vast tract, and
partly to the birds passing through the country rapidly, and
that hereafter it will prove to occur not only there, but at
all suitable places in Central Asia on passage to and from
India, though it may not usually get quite so far cast as the
Koko Nor.
Further it occurs in Asia Minor, Palestine, Northern Africa
along the Mediterranean, and the whole of Europe (but not
extending to any of the Atlantic Islands, the Faeroes, or Iceland),
being a winter visitant to the greater portion of this
whole region, and summering and breeding for the most part
only north of the 6o° N. Latitude (to far within the Arctic Circle,
where indeed it seems most common), but in Central Russia,
and possibly in Denmark as far south as the 55th degree.
T H E JACK SNIPE is very variable, according to my experience
in the North-West Provinces, "in its migrations, appearing much
earlier in some years, and being much more plentiful in some
than in others ; but even when most abundant, it is nowhere,
in any part of the Empire that I have visited, or from whence
I have received accounts, at all common as compared
with Fantails or Pintails, within the regular ranges of either
of these; and, moreover, the bird lies so close and is so easily overlooked,
that it is by no means surprising If accounts as to
the times of its arrival and departure differ widely* ; and I must
* In die North-Western Provinces, the earliest dale on which I have ever shot
it has been the 9th of September. In most years I have seen the first birdsy'wj/at
t!ie dusc of September or the very commence merit of October. In one year I noted
confess that, not having paid in past times any close attention
to the matter, I can now only say that in different seasons,
and in different parts of the country, it arrives between the
latter end of August and October, but on the whole I believe
somewhat earlier in the east than in the west.
As regards its departure, although it does not remain later than
some of both the other common species, it docs certainly, I
should say, as a body linger longer; and time after time I
have noticed that, when the Common Snipes had been reduced
to one-tenth of their former number, or even less, the Jacks
were quite as numerous as they had been at any previous
period ; and, while in Upper India the proportion of Jacks killed
to Common Snipe hardly amounts to ten per cent, between the
15th of November and the 15th of March, towards the end of
that, although throughout the latter part of October I had been shooting Snipe in
likely places, and the Common Snipe was plentiful, the first Jack was seen on the 3rd
of November, and that several other men who hud been shooting in Etawah, Mainpun,
and Cawnpore, told me about this time that they had seen no Jacks that season.
Later die same year in February, in the same places, they were abundant. The
following are some of the notices that I have met with, or that have been sent me
as to the times of its arrival, departure, &c. :—
" It makes its appearance later than the Common Snipe and departs earlier."—T.
" rt appears in India and departs about the same time as the Common Snipe ; but
I have never seen it lingering so late as many stray ones of the latter species are
known to do."—S. R. TiekelL
"When at Jhansi, I noticed that, for three successive years, we found and shot
the little Judcock before a full Snipe had been seen, and I have been confirmed in
this opinion by several experienced sportsmen,"—y. II. Baldwin,
" The Jack Snipe arrives in the valley of Nepal in the beginning of September,
and docs not leave until about the middle of April. It is most common in the
valley during October, November, and March, and is found in the Nawakot district
in November. It was generally found in fields of growing corn or other crops."—
J Scully.
" They come in {at Jessore) during the latter half of August."—If. J. Ralney.
"Judging by those we see of it, and compared with the Common Snipe, the Jack
might be said to be very rare in the Lucknow division ; but owing to its skulking
habits, it appears to be much rarer than it really is. It would seem to arrive later
and to depart earlier than the Common Snipe."—G. Reid.
" The first Jack was shot here at Jacobabad this year on the 4th of October;
the first full Snipe on the 28th of A u g u s t . " — J Maitland.
" GalUnago eallinufa, Liu,, arrive in November on the Eastern Narra, and leave by
April." - -S. Doig.
" We shot the first Jack at Dcesa, in 1876, on the 23rd of September. This species
arrives about a month later than the other two."—E. A. Butler.
"Jack Snipe are found, but rather sparingly, in Ratnagiri. Only the larger Snipe
grounds attract them, and they are not like the Common and the Pin-tailed Snipe,
found in every little patch of inundated rice land. They arrive very early, and have
been shot at Dapuli in September."—G. Vtdal.
" I have shot them all over Southern India, south of the 12th degree North Latitude.
They come iu late in the year, about the end of November, and leave again
before the end of February. They don't appear to be common, except in some parts
of Malabar, near Nellamboor and Wondoor, and in some parts of Palghat.
" They appear to prefer the higher standing paddy and tall grass of swamps ; they
almost rise at the foot, and are not so easy to hit as the others. Very few are snared
by the native fowlers, hardly any being brought to the markets for sale."—A.
Theobald.
" The Jack Snipe is fairly (some say very) common in Southern Travancoie, from
September to April, or the eaily part of May.'*—Frank IV, Bourdillon.