The Snipes. 485 



long after I heard it that I ascertained 

 that the remarkable hammering noise in 

 the air was made by the Jack-Snipe. " 



The eggs of the Jack-Snipe are very 

 large for the size of the bird, more so 

 than in the case of the other birds of this 

 group. In colour and shape, they resemble 

 the eggs of the Common Snipe. They 

 measure from 1*45 to t"65 in length and 

 from I "05 to I '13 in breadth. 



In the adult bird, the forehead and 

 the crown are black, mottled with rufous. 

 There is no central pale band down the 

 middle of the crown, but this latter is 

 bounded on either side by a very distinct 

 buff band, extending from the upper 

 mandible to the back of the head. A 

 shorter black band runs between the buff 

 band and the eye. A broad black band 

 connects the bill and the eye ; below this 

 there is a pale fulvous streak extending 

 from the bill to the ear-coverts, and below 

 this again another black band ends in a 

 large black patch behind the ear-coverts. 

 The sides of the head, where not covered 

 by the bands above mentioned, and the 

 whole of the sides of the neck, are dull 

 white streaked with black. The hindneck 

 and the upper part of the mantle are rufous 

 grey, mottled with black and white. The 



