upon Bradwell common, which Mr. Paget-mentions, but bp
my note the time was May, and on the 8th óf May we
searched closely again for them; but they had departed. On
the first of August 1888, a Jack Snipe was shot on Barton,
fen, in my presence, a perfectly healthy, good-conditioned,'
well plumaged-bird. The man who shot it told me that
once, and- only once, he had shot a Jack Snipe in summer
upon the same fen. He lives, upon'the broads and marshes#
and would doubtless have detected any, as he is quite alive
to the rarity of their appearance. The eggs which have once
or twice been offered to me as those of the Jack Snipe, were
those of the Purre, and I regret that I can say nothing in
favour of its breeding in Norfolk* I think that some-worm#
or particular aliment must- be wanting here in summer, and
that short diet made. Mr. Girdlestone’s Jack Snipe-so feeble
to d unhealthy. The one shot on the first of August might
be a migratory bird.” .
Some years ago, I was told by several residents in York-
shire, that a Jack Snipe’s nést with four eggs had been taken
m that county, and was in the possession of (Colonel Dalton.
Mr. Selby says, when in Sutherlandshire “ the' gatekeeper
of the Tongue district assured us that the Jack Snipé breeds
there almost -évëïy year. Sif W. JardiUAccompanied him
to a spot where, he had frequently seen them in summer, but
he was hot so fortunate as to meet %ith any,” | I am not
aware that the eggs of this bird have ever been |obtained
éither in Orkney or Shetland. Sir Humphrey Davyt say^ '
“ Ï was informed at Copenhagen, that the; Jack Snipe certainly
breeds in Zealand, and I saw a nest with its eggs, said
to be from the . island ofeSandholm, opposite.r.Copenhagen ;
and I have no doubt that this bird sometimes makes its nest
m the marshes of Hofetéin and Hanover, The Jack Snipe
feeds upon smaller insects than the Gommon Snipe r' small
white larvae, such as are found in black bogs, are its favourite
food, but I havé generally found seeds, in its stomach, once
hempsegds, and always gravel*?j|$
I saw eggs of the* :Jack Snipe in the; Museum at Paris, of
on©!©f:which I have an exact drawing. The, egg- is of a yellowish
ojive, the larger énd spotted with two shades of brown;
therlength of. the egg1 on© inch three- lipésyby ten lines in
breadth. Mr..Dann says.the Jack Snipe is far less numerous
in#:eandinasia than either^ofi thebwo preceding species, but
frequents the same localities. I t jbjowpvir migrates south con-*
siderably later Keshas ni© t« t|i them on thé Dofre Ehell
as late asktke end-ofrSopfeqmler,;,after a-.frost.of,.some days’’
duration with deep snpw,jy|éd -has iseeh them,, at Lulea, on, the„
' Bothnian Gnlph, im i^ 1%b©r/; Thëyrai^npt unfrequently .tot
be met wi$h as late, as November and December, in Sweden.
M. Temminck; in the^fourth 'part. of.bis Manual, mentions*
that this bird breeds;in ©©psiderable numbers in the. environs-
of Sfb^é^rsburgh ; and Pennant says it visits Siberia.,. Mr.
Hoy n'®ste an& 'èggs -of-the. Jack
Snipe at “Falcohswaerdy j n North Brabant. I t is a-winter -
vig&S?*$% to France,, Provence, and Italy. Mr. Strickland
méh-^o|^#at it is ' abundant at Smyrna in the same season;
the Russian Naturalists found it in the,^ignityr.of the Cau-
i^ s a s , and,- Colopel Sykes includes, -in his Birds of the
Dukhnhij..,'
The beak is ,4arfe brown at ^the point,f pale reddish brown
at, the h^se>;/'irides' dark brown ; from.the beak to the
dark brown -streak over that# over the eye and over the .ear-
coverts a broad, pale brown streak, with a narrow darker one
along the middle line-pfghe posterior p a rt; forehead and top
of the head >%ich dark brown#apt-divided along, be,.middle
% ,a pale brown* strpakv*as* in: the Great Snipe and Common
Snipe ; back of the, beck greyish brown#varied with dusky
brown | back rich dark brown-# interscapulars and scapulars
nearly black, tipped with reddish brown, both sets having