490 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



whilst bands of this Snipe were seen flying abont like covej^s of 

 Partridges, and alighting in gardens on sheltered spots which were 

 free from snow, especially among cabbages, where they may often 

 be seen in companies of from twenty to fifty individuals ; this, for 

 instance, was the case on the lith of February 1876, and on the 

 19th of December 1878, etc. 



This species is the first of the whole genus to arrive here in 

 the spring, the earliest arrivals almost invariably maldng their 

 appearance before the ' First Woodcock' The migration lasts 

 until the end of April. The young autumn birds frequently apjaear 

 as early as the last week of July, on fine warm days, in com- 

 pany with young Ringed Plovers and Redshanks. It appears to 

 breed irregularly in Greenland ; in Iceland it is more abundant, 

 and in the Faroes it is numerous ; from Ireland, England, and 

 Scotland its breeding range extends eastwards through nearly 

 the whole of Europe and Asia, advancing in the north even be- 

 yond the Arctic Circle, and in the south to the latitude of upper 

 Italy. 



279. — Jack- Snipe [Kleine Sumpfschnepfe]. 

 SCOLOPAX GALLINULA, Linn.i 



Heligolandish : Water Snepp=TFafer Snipe. 



Scolopax gallinula. Naumann, viii. 344. 



Jach-SnijK. Dresser, vii. 653. 



Becassine sourde. Teinminck, Manncl, ii. 678, iv. 439. 



This pretty Uttle Snipe is a well-known visitor to this island, 

 occurring in fairly large numbers on both migrations. Un- 

 like the preceding species, however, it appears to have a great 

 objection to travel when the weather is cold, or, in fact, at all 

 wintry. On fine warm days during the last half of April, and in 

 the course of May, the birds show the utmost reluctance to quit 

 the spot on which they have squatted, so that they are frequently 

 almost trodden upon, and, indeed, have often been picked up with 

 the hand ; this sluggishness is probably due to the unusually plump 

 condition in which one finds them, more particularly late in the 

 summer, for that they are not fatigued by their migrations is proved 

 at once by their vigorous flight when they are flushed. Indeed, as 

 I have remarked before, with three exceptions, I have never 

 yet luiown any bird of any kind to arrive here in a fatigued or 

 exhausted condition. 



The late appearance of this bird in spring points to its being a 

 species whose nesting haunts lie in the high North, That indefati- 



1 Gallinago gallinula (Linn.), 



