154 THE BIRDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. 



meadows at the junction o£ the Sorb rook and Swere with the 

 Cher well stood a foot or eig-hteen inches deep in water^ and 

 were more or less covered with reeds, in places as high as one^s 

 head, I saw five Snipe as early as the 8th Aug-ust, and early 

 in the following' month flushed upwards of fifty couple from 

 one small meadow. A few Snipe always put in an appearance 

 in the early part of September, even in dry seasons, when they 

 are usually found along- the streams, but the main flight 

 occurs from the middle of October to early November, their 

 numbers and stay depending- entirely upon the state of the 

 meadows. In varying numbers they remain the winter 

 through, even in severe frosts, appearing and disappearing- in 

 greater plenty with changes in the weather. 



In March birds on the return flight northwards are observed, 

 especially if there is any flood in the meadows, while indi- 

 viduals are occasionally seen well on into April. When out with 

 the Otter hounds, between Somerton and Heyford, in April, 

 1875, I saw one which attracted the notice of many of the 

 field, and Mr. A. H. Cocks reminds me that this took place 

 on the 26th of the month. On the evening of the 9th April, 

 1884, I saw two flying over Great Bourton village. The 

 Snipe has not, to my knowledge, been observed in May or 

 June, but the Rev. B. D^Oyly Aplin saw one in July, at 

 Bodicote. 



The Snipe usually weighs about four, or four and a quarter, 

 ounces, but, at the commencement of the frost in December, 

 1878, I shot one weighing a trifle over five ounces. Daniel 

 mentions that the Duke of Marlborough^s keeper killed 

 twenty-two Snipes at one shot some years previously {Bural 

 Sports, 1807). 



THE JACK SNIPE. ^ 



Gailinago gallinula. 

 The Jack Snipe is a regular winter visitor in small numbers, 

 usually arriving early in October. The earliest date for its 



