GREAT SNIPE 273 
Many of the Great Snipes, which have been obtained, 
have been flushed from dry soil, such as potato and clover- 
fields, grass, heath, and bracken, and not from marshy 
sround, so much frequented by the Common Snipe (A. 
Patterson, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1901, p. 101, and Caton Haigh, 
‘Zoologist,’ 1902, p. 130). In this respect the Great Snipe 
somewhat resembles the Woodcock in its diurnal habits. 
Fie. 42.—HEAD OF GREAT SNIPE. 1} Nat. size. 
Flight.—Vhis species may be distinguished! on the wing 
from the Common Snipe by its superior size, straighter 
"But the Great Snipe is best distinguished by its plumage-markings. 
The relative sizes of the two birds is a less reliable test, especially 
if both are not at hand to compare, as there is much variation 
even in the same species. I have in my collection a large specimen 
of a Common Snipe which in the flesh weighed 6 ozs. and 30 ers. 
(Plate XXI.), and I have handled several Great Snipe weighing only 
73 to 8 ozs. each, so that a novice, were he to judge from size alone, 
might mistake the two birds. The Common Snipe has only fourteen 
feathers in the tail, the Great Snipe has sixteen. But in the latter, 
two or more of the tail-feathers may be missing (shot away), when 
the dead bird is picked up, therefore a hasty conclusion as to the 
correct species should not be arrived at by this method alone. The 
beak, legs, and feet of the Great Snipe are relatively shorter than those of 
the Common Snipe, but here, again, it is necessary to examine several 
of the latter species owing to the large amount of existing variation in 
the length of these parts. 
The Great Snipe, be it a large or small example, may readily be 
distinguished by the presence of the bold, dark barring which extends 
over the breast and abdomen, almost back to the tail-feathers; in the 
Common Snipe the abdomen is white. 
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