Gl4 SCOLOPACID.'E. 



upon Bradwell common, whicli Mr. Paget mentions, but by 

 my note the time was May, and on the 8th of May we 

 searched closely again for them, but they had departed. On 

 the first of August 1833, a Jack Snipe Avas shot on Barton 

 fen, in my presence, a perfectly healthy, good-conditioned, 

 well plumaged bird. The man who shot it told me that 

 once, and only once, he had shot a Jack Snipe in summer 

 upon the same fen. He lives upon the broads and marshes, 

 and would doubtless have detected any, as he is quite alive 

 to the rarity of their appearance. The eggs which have once 

 or twice been offered to me as those of the Jack Snipe, were 

 those of the Purre, and I regret that I can say nothing in 

 favour of its breeding in Norfolk. I think that some worm, 

 or particular aliment must be wanting here in summer, and 

 that short diet made Mr. Girdlestonc's Jack Snipe so feeble 

 and unhealthy. ' The one shot on the first of August might 

 be a migratory bird." 



Some years ago, I was told by several residents in York- 

 shire, that a Jack Snipe's nest with four eggs had been taken 

 in that county, and was in the possession of Colonel Dalton. 

 Mr. Selby says, when in Sutherlandshire " the gamekeeper 

 of the Tongue district assured us that the Jack Snipe breeds 

 there almost every year. Sir W. Jardine accompanied him 

 to a spot where he had frequently seen them in summer, but 

 he was not so fortunate as to meet with any." I am not 

 aware that the eggs of this bird have ever been obtained 

 either in Orkney or Shetland. Sir Humphrey Davy says, 

 " I was informed at Copenhagen, that the Jack Snipe cer- 

 tainly breeds in Zealand, and I saw a nest with its eggs, said 

 to be from the island of Sandholm, opposite Copenhagen ; 

 and I have no doubt that this bird sometimes makes its nest 

 in the marshes of Holstein and Hanover. The Jack Snipe 

 feeds upon smaller insects than the Common Snipe : small 

 white larvee, such as are found in black bogs, are its favourite 



