188 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



to a well-known taxidermist, and lie expressed an 

 opinion that, judging from the shape and colour of 

 the feathers, the bird killed was Sabine's Snipe. 



Great or Solitary Snipe, Scolopax major. This 

 bird affects drier situations than the Common Snipe, 

 and is generallj^ met with in autumn, when the few 

 which visit us at that time, on their migration south- 

 wards, 'are generally found to be young birds. As 

 its name implies, it is much larger than the Common 

 Snipe, and of a stouter build. It flies more slowly 

 and steadily than that bird, and may be recognized 

 by its peculiar habit of spreading the tail, which has 

 a very rufous appearance, like a fan, and by its having 

 the under parts spotted instead of white. It differs 

 also in some other respects, which are apparent on 

 a closer inspection ; as, for instance, in having the ejQ 

 placed very high in the head, like the Woodcock, 

 and in having sixteen tail-feathers instead of fourteen. 



Seldom a year elapses without specimens of the 

 Great Snipe being obtained in some of the eastern 

 counties, but in Middlesex it is a rare bird. A 

 specimen, in the collection of Mr. Bond, was killed 

 in Hendon Fields in November, 1851, and five j^ears 

 subsequently another was shot, late in autumn, on 

 the Brent, by William Sawyer, the keeper at Kings- 

 bury Eeservoir. I have seen a third, which was 

 killed on Bushy Heath. 



Common Snipe, Scolopax gallinago. A few of these 

 birds annually make their appearance here in 



