280 CHARADRITDA 
JACK SNIPE. Gaillinago gallinula (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, pl. 
80; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Europe,’ vol. vii, pl. 544; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. v, pl. 28. 
It is strange that so many still adhere to the erroneous 
idea that the Jack Snipe is the male of the preceding 
species, for the two birds are quite distinct, not only in 
size and plumage-markings, but also in several habits. 
Unlike its larger congener, the Jack Snipe is only a 
migrant to our country, although it is noteworthy that 
a few stragglers and immature birds have been observed 
during the breeding-months, even throughout the entire 
summer. As yet there is no record of the discovery of the 
nest in the British Isles. 
The vast majority of birds reach us during October, 
some earlier, though they are seldom seen before 
September. 
In April the return journey northward takes place. 
Marshy swamps, wet meadows, tufts of rushes, and 
less frequently ground devoid of cover, are the haunts of 
this bird, and though far less numerous than the Common 
Snipe, it is on the whole more widely distributed over 
Great Britain and Ireland. In some of the northern 
districts of Donegal, it is the more numerous species 
(G2 Elaxt)e 
It is sometimes found in close proximity to the tide. 
The late Mr. E. Williams repeatedly procured specimens 
flushed from small clumps of rushes along the shores of 
Dublin Bay: such birds were observed generally in pairs. 
Mr. F. H. Walker informs me that he has several times 
seen them running in front of his setter-dog, and he has 
watched the birds as they wended their way through rushes 
and grasses at a rapid pace. At times a Jack Snipe will 
alight on the open ground like a Sky-Lark, and then run 
towards a tuft of rushes, in which it will conceal itself. 
Flight——When aroused from the marsh and put to flight 
this species is not difficult to identify. It gets up, without 
a note of warning, and pursues its flight for a hundred 
yards or so, when it suddenly alights, and at times 
returns almost to the spot from which it started. Though 
sufficiently fast on the wing to test the aim of a good 
marksman, yet it does not twist in the air in the zig- 
