52 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



coming up, which lies between the two bottom 

 Kingsthorpe spinnies (near Barnwell), the other 

 some way further on. I never saw any Snipe half 

 as big before, and as I have done a great deal of 

 Snipe-shooting I am sure I am not mistaken. The 

 flight of these birds did not seem to be as quick as 

 that of the Common Snipe." 



The above, if Mr. Fitzwilliam, Avas not mistaken, 

 is a very late date for the Great Snipe in this country, 

 in which it appears that this species is usually met 

 with on its southward migration in August, Sep- 

 tember, and the first half of October. I have several 

 authentic records of Great Snipes from the Whittle- 

 sea district, but those above quoted are the only 

 notices of the bird within our political county 

 boundaries to which I can at this moment refer 

 without any doubt. 



The Great Snipe breeds, according to Yarrell, in 

 Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Northern Germany, 

 and in European Russia as far south as Bessarabia. 

 Concerning its pairing and breeding-habits I know 

 nothing from personal observation, and must refer 

 those of my readers who are interested in the subject 

 to the standard works on ornithology. In those 

 parts of Europe in which this Snipe does not nest 

 it is known as a bird of double passage, very much 

 more commonly met with in the western countries 

 on the autumnal than on the vernal migration. In 

 the Ionian Islands and adjacent mainland it is, how- 

 ever, more commonly met with in May than at any 

 other time, though not rare in September in the 

 valleys of Epirus. We shot several in Cyprus in 

 April and May, and I shot one and flushed another 

 on the east coast of Spain, near Valencia, in March 



