142 THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 



himself, shot a Great Snipe on Dartmoor in 1868, 

 in a gale of wind and rain ; three others were 

 recorded from the County the same season. The 

 specimens that occur are believed to be chiefly 

 young birds, but Mr. Gratcombe states regarding 

 the bird killed on Dartmoor on the early date of 

 August 23rd (1876), "Although not a very large 

 bird, I feel sure from the state of its plumage and 

 general appearance, that it is an adult " (Zool. 

 1876. p. 5126). 



COMMON miFK—GalUnago cmUstis (Frenzel). 



A RESIDENT species. Mr. Jordan writes in 1843, 

 that Snipe " Are in the habit of breeding on 

 Dartmoor every year, where the young ones are 

 sometimes killed before they have got the powers of 

 flight properly developed" (Zool. 1843. p. 362). 

 Modern improvements have largely encroached on 

 the Snipe's favourite nesting grounds in Devon, 

 but Mr. Mitchell still meets with breeding bjrds on 

 Dartmoor. The late Mr. Rodd drew attention to a 

 variety of Snipe, provisionally distinguished as the 

 ' Russet Snipe,' as differing from the common form 

 of Snipe in its slightly larger size and ruddy brown 

 hue. Mr. Gatcombe met with two specimens of 

 this variety, one of the two being killed on 

 Dartmoor (Zool. 1862. p. 7939). Snipe are 

 occasionally reported from the Lighthouses on the 

 Devonshire coast. Thus in 1884 a Snipe was 

 captured at the Start Lighthouse on November 12th 



