SNIPES 197 



16 oz., but the average weight is 12 oz. The heaviest 

 one on record was killed at Ramsay, Isle of Man. It 

 was very carefully weighed by Mr. D. H. Greenwood 

 of Glendaff, Ramsay, and scaled 17 h oz. 



For notable *' bags " of Woodcock, and further de- 

 tails concerning weight, see Harvie-Brown and Buck- 

 ley, " Fauna of Argyll," pp. 172-173 ; Payne Gallwey, 

 " Fowler in Ireland," pp. 227-229 ; and the article on 

 AVoodcock in the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," 1898. 



An unusual instance of a Woodcock " towering " 

 is reported, Field, Feb. 19, 1898. 



Woodcocks have been occasionally kept for some 

 time in captivity (ZooL, 1884, p. 150): 



GREAT SNIPE. Gallinago major (Gmelin). PI. 22, 

 fig. 5. Length, 11 in.; bill, 2-5 in.; wing, 5-.5 in.; 

 tarsus, 1"35 in. 



The Great or " Solitary " Snipe visits this country 

 regularly every autumn from Scandinavia, and always 

 earlier than the Common Snipe. Instances of its 

 occurrence in spring are rare. It appears to seek 

 drier situations than does the Common Snipe : — e.g. 

 one shot by the Earl of Haddington in a dry grass 

 field near Mellerstain, Berwickshire, in the autumn 

 of 1865 (Turnbull, "Birds of East Lothian," p. 43) ; 

 two on high ground, Malham, Yorkshire, Sept. 6, 

 1862 (Christy Horsfall, Zool, 1862, p. 8196); one 

 on a stubble at Stewarton, Ayrshire, Sept. 15, 1868 

 (R. Gray, "Birds of Scotland," p. 311); one in a 

 piece of potatoes on dry sand, near Milton Pewsey, 

 Wilts, Sept. 23, 1868 {Field, Oct. 3, 1868) ; one on a 



