for some distance before taking wing, and is usually
very tame, rising with apparent reluctance and offering
the easiest of shots. If not shot at, the Great Snipe
generally flies low for a short distance, rises for a few
yards into the air, and pitches straight down to the
ground. I never saw one of these birds mount to any
considerable height in the air or indulge in the erratic
flight so frequent with the Common Snipe. On rising,
this bird almost always spreads out its tail, and in
spring often utters a low croak. In my experience it
was exceptional to find one of these birds without
another in its immediate neighbourhood, and I have
occasionally flushed two simultaneously. The heaviest
Great Snipe that I ever saw weighed a fraction over
oz.; the lightest that I ever heard of was shot in
Cyprus by Dr. H. H, Guillemard in 1888, and only
reached 5§ oz. The flesh of the Great Snipe, even
during the vernal migration, is, in my opinion, much
superior to that of Common Snipe or Woodcock during
their legitimate season. I was assured by an officer of
the Russian army that bags of from fifty to eighty
Great Snipes are frequently obtained by one or two
guns in a day in September within easy reach of
St. Petersburg ; and another friend has informed me
that in May large numbers of these “ Royal Snipes ”
are to be found in the marshes of the Gulf of Salerno.