THE JACK SNIPE 259 



the Scottish name ' Heather-bleater ', was also given to it as descrip- 

 tive of its pecuHar summer note. The female sits closely on her 

 eggs, and if disturbed while in charge of her yet unfledged brood, 

 endeavours to distract the attention of an intruder from them to 

 herself by the artifice already described as being employed by others 

 of the Waders. 



' Sabine's Snipe ', which was at one time thought to be a distinct 

 species, is now admitted to be a melanism, a dark variety of the 

 Common Snipe, recent examination of specimens having proved 

 that its tail contains fourteen feathers and not twelve only, as was 

 supposed. It is seldom found outside Great Britain. 



THE JACK SNIPE 



GALLINAGO GALLINULA 



Crown divided longitudinally by a black band edged \\ith reddish brown , 

 beneath this on either side a parallel yellowish band reaching from the 

 bill to the nape ; back beautifully mottled with buff, reddish brown, and 

 black, the latter lustrous with green and purple ; neck and breast spotted ; 

 belly and abdomen pure white ; tail of twelve feathers, dusky edged 

 with reddish grey ; bill dusky, lighter towards the base. Length eight 

 and a half inches. Eggs yellowish olive, spotted with brown. 



As the Great Snipe has been called the Double Snipe, on account 

 of its being superior in size to the common species, so the subject 

 of the present chapter is known as the Half Snipe, from being con- 

 trasted with the same bird, and being considerably smaller. The 

 present species is far less abundant than the Common Snipe ; yet 

 still it is often seen, more frequently, perhaps, than the other, by 

 non-sporting observers, for it frequents not only downright marshes, 

 but the little streams which meander through meadows, the sides 

 of grassy ponds, and the drains by the side of canals, where the 

 ordinary pedestrian, if accompanied by a dog, will be very likely 

 to put one up. Its food and general habits are much the same as 

 those of the Common Snipe ; but it rises and flies off without any 

 note. Its flight is singularly crooked until it has made up its mind 

 which direction it intends to take ; indeed it seems to decide even- 

 tually on the one which was at first most unlikely to be its path, 

 and after having made a short round composed of a series of dis- 

 jointed curves, it either returns close to the spot from which it was 

 started, or suddenly drops, as by a sudden impulse, into a ditch a 

 few gunshots off. I have seen one drop thus within twenty yards 

 of the spot where I stood, and though I threw upwards of a dozen 

 stones into the place where I saw it go down, it took no notice of 

 them. It was only by walking down the side of the ditch, beating 

 the rushes with a stick, that I induced it to rise again. It then 



