CHARADRIID.l-:. 



575 



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THE JACK SNIPE. 

 Gallinago gallinula, Linnaeus. 



The Jack Snipe seldom appears in the British Islands before the 

 beginningof September, and the heaviest arrivalstake place in October; 

 at which time the bird sometimes strikes against lighthouses, though 

 with less frequency than the Common Snipe. Before its departure 

 northwards in April its plumage has assumed all the bloom and 

 brilliancy of the nuptial period, while the fact that a few individuals 

 have been known to remain till late in spring and even throughout 

 summer, has given rise to suppositions that the Jack Snipe might 

 breed with us ; there is not, however, a single authenticated instance 

 of its having done so in any part of the United Kingdom. During 

 the colder months of the year it is generally distributed, and though 

 less numerous than the Common Snipe, it is more ubiquitous, while 

 exhibiting a marked preference for certain localities. 



As a wanderer the Jack Snipe was obtained in the Fccroes in 1890. 

 In summer it inhabits Scandinavia, especially to the north of the Arctic 

 circle, and in Western Russia it nests as far south as St. Petersburg ; 

 but east of Archangel it appears to be infrequent, and Messrs. 

 Harvie-Brown and Seebohm did not observe it on the Lower 

 Petchora. Putting aside unsubstantiated assertions respecting its 

 supposed breeding below lat. 55*^ N., it may be described as a bird of 

 passage over the remainder of the Continent, and in the south it is 

 often plentiful — in some years even more so than the Common 



