THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF TIREE 



221 



visitor. There is always a migratory movement of Woodcocks 

 more or less pronounced across this island about the latter end of 

 October and beginning of November, and again a very few make 

 their appearance in the month of February. Such is the case in 

 ordinary seasons, but when a long spell of frost and snow occurs 

 the Woodcocks are driven out from the mountains and woods on 

 the mainland, and are then numerous on Tiree, and good sport is 

 then got with them. 



Common Snipe {Gallinago coslestis). Tiree is an island par 

 excellence for snipe-shooting, and bags have been made that would 

 be difficult to beat anywhere. The best bag in my experience was 

 made on 29th October 1906, when two guns killed 249 Snipe 

 in one day of rather under six hours' shooting. The same guns 

 killed 1 1 08 Snipe in eight days, shooting not more, and sometimes 

 less, than six hours each day. I may here relate a few curious 

 incidents which I have noticed when attending gentlemen snipe- 

 shooting. On one occasion when passing some rough bog grass 

 a Snipe got up ; the shooter swung round on it, when another 

 got up in a line, and just as he pulled the trigger, a third got up 

 also in line, and he killed all three. What made it curious was 

 that these were the only Snipe on wing at the time, and they 

 all happened to be in line, although at intervals from one another. 

 On another occasion we were passing a reedy pool with bunches 

 of rough grass standing out of the water, when a Snipe got up 

 and was shot, falling in the water, and on my wading out to 

 retrieve it I found four Snipe which the shot had killed in a 

 bunch of grass. No one knew the Snipe were there, but they just 

 happened to be sitting in the bunch of grass in line with the shot. 

 The snipe-shooting is not confined to the bogs and wet ground. 

 Very good sport is got on quite dry ground, on the fields of yellow 

 iris which grow luxuriantly on most parts of the island. By 

 October the iris has begun to fall down, and it then makes excellent 

 cover, and the birds usually sit well in it. It has been noticed that 

 birds bred on the island have green legs, whereas the legs of the 

 foreign Snipe are orange. It is certainly the case that there are 

 no Snipe with orange-coloured legs here until after the month 

 of August. 



Jack Snipe (Galli/iago galli>whi).Th\s\ species arrives towards 

 the end of September, and gradually increases until November. 

 They are very erratic in their movements, for although they may be 

 plentiful in a place one day, there may be none there the next. 

 Jack Snipe have become much scarcer of late years ; formerly they 



