brown at the base ; the irides dark brown ; from the base of
the beak to the eye, a dark brown streak; crown of the head
very dark brown, with two. lateral, and one central, buff-
coloured streaks; back dark brown, slightly spotted with
pale brown; interscapulars and scapulars dark brown in
the centre, with broad external, lateral margins of rich buff,
forming four conspicuous lines along the upper surface of
the body; wing-coverts spotted with pale brown, on a. ground
of dull black, and tipped with white; tertials barred with
pale browp, on a black ground; the primaries dull black,
secondaries the same, but tipped with white; upper tail-
coverts barred, alternately, with pale brown, and dusky-
black ; tail- feathers fourteen, basal-half dull black varied on
the margins with pale reddish-brown, on the distal-half of
the feather an oval patch of pale chestnut, bounded by a
dusky-brown band, and. tipped; with paler chestnut. Chin
brownish-white; cheeks pale brown, ear-eoverts darker;
sides, and front of the neck, pale brown, spotted with darker
brown; breast, belly, and vent, white; sides • and flanks
greyish-white barred with dusky-black; under tail-coverts
pale yellow-brown barred with greyish-black; legs and toes
greenish-brown.
A Snipe shot in the first week in August, an ©Id bird in
summer plumage, but with the antnmn moult just commencing,
has; th& outer lateral margin of the interscapqlar*
and scapular feathers- narrow, and almost white; all the
parts of the plumagot on the back and wing, which are. pale
yellow-brown in winter, are in this bird of a rich reddish-
brown ; the flMgit new dnferseapular feather on each side has
just appeared, with its usual broad, buff-coloured margin,
affording a striking contrast to the. narrower white margins
of the; feathers lower down oh the body.
The whole length of a Common Snipe iis about, ten inches
and a half; the length of the beak about tw© inches and
f e s e ^ a r te r t ; from the carpal joint to the. end of the first
quill-feather, which is the longest in the wing-, ‘five inches;
th% sexes are. alike in plumage, but according to Groiuld, the
male is the larger.;
A young bird about two-thirds grown, with the beak only
one inch long, and with down still adhering about the head,
has the narrow, light-coloured margins, and the rich red-
brown on the feathers of the, upper surface of the body and
wings, as in the old bird in summer.
Albinos, and fawn-coloured and abnormally mottled varieties
of the Common Snipe have- at times been obtained,
and some remarkable examples are in the cdlleetiohr of
Mr. John Marshall, of Taunton. Individuals are occasionally
recorded of a form which is now generally admitted to
be a melanic variety* but which was formerly:? considered
to be entitled to specific rank under the appellation, of
g Sabine’s Snipe,’ and as such it has been figured and da-,
scribed in former* Editions of this work. This, name was
conferred by the late H. A. Vigors (Tr. Linn. Soc;, xiv.
p.;iP>;upomia Mrd shot by the Rev. Chas. Doyne, of Port-
arlington, Queen’s Go., Ireland, on the 21st August, 1822;
and many examples have subsequently been recorded* Mr.
J. EL Harting, in 4The. Field’ of 10th December, 1870,
furnished a list of the reported -occurrences up to that date,
from which it appeared that it had been met with in Ireland
and England in ev%ry}.month of the year excepting June
and July. Since,, then the occurrence of an example near
Montrose, its first appearance in Scotland, has been re-,
corded by Major H. W. Feilden (Zool. s.s. p. 3188); and
there have been a few more; in other parts of our islands.
A light-coloured, specimen now in the foreign, collection of
the British Museum, was^ stated by the late Jules Yerreaux
do have' been shot near Paris. A t the time that * Sabine s
Snipe ’ was assumed to be. a distinct "species,, many supposed
points of difference between it and the Common Snipe were
detected and insisted upon: 'especially th.e number ef the
tail-feathers, which was stated'to, be only twelve; but so
many examples- proved to have" fourteen, that this distinction
had to be given up. The ovate shape of the dorsal feathers
was another point, which may be accounted for by the
supposition that in this, as with many other varieties, the
examples,, are all birds of the year. Mr. Harting has