THE DINNER. 123 



more east, both because they are aided by 

 west winds, and because the marshes in the 



least a dozen of these birds, and their contents were 

 always of the same kind, long slender white hexapode 

 larvae, or their skms, of different sizes, from that of the 

 maggot of the horse-fly to one thrice as long. I believe 

 all these insects were the larvae of tibulae of different 

 species. In the stomach of the common snipe, which 

 is stronger and larger, I have generally found earth- 

 worms, and often seeds, and rice, and gravel. I con- 

 jecture, that, in the temperate climates of Europe, most 

 of the aquatic larvae on which the solitary snipe feeds 

 are converted into flies in the late spring and autumn ; 

 which probably limits the period of their migration. 

 In 1827 the solitary snipe passed through Italy and 

 Illyria between the loth of March and the 6th of May. 

 I heard of the first at Ravenna the 17th of March, 

 and I shot two near Laybach on the 5th of May; 

 but though I was continually searching for them for 

 a fortnight after, I found no more. This year they re- 

 turned from the north early ; and I saw some in the 

 marshes of Illyria on the 19th of August. In 1828 

 they were later in their vernal passage, and likewise in 

 their return. I found them in Illyria through May, as 

 late as the 17th, on which day I shot three, and they 

 did not re-appear till the beginning of September. I 

 found one on the 3d, and three on the 4th, and twenty 

 were shot on the 7th. 



As this bird is rarely seen in England, I shall men- 

 tion its peculiarities. It is more than one third larger 



