COMMON SNIPE. 179 



In comparison with the Common Snipe, the hill 

 and legs are short ; the tibiae bare for only a short 

 distance above the tarsal joint. The upper parts 

 exhibit the general distribution of colouring and 

 marking seen in the Snipes, the distinctions in 

 which, between species, it is almost impossible to 

 point out in words, but the under parts, to the breast, 

 are pale ochreous, below that nearly white in the 

 former, the latter having the feathers barred with 

 black, the markings covering the whole under sur- 

 face ; the wings are short and rounded in all their 

 proportions; the edges of the inner webs very slightly 

 tinted with a pale rufous, and minutely and deli- 

 cately mottled with greyish-black (as in Tringa ru- 

 fescens), though not so conspicuously ; the axillary 

 leathers with very broad and distinct black bars ; 

 tail very much concealed by both upper and under 

 coverts ; the centre feathers black, with rich rufous- 

 orange tips, finished by a black and a white narrow 

 bar ; the four exterior feathers, on each side, white 

 on the inner webs, more or less barred with black 

 on the outer, and those next the centre being tinted 

 with reddish-orange. 



THE COMMON SNIPE, SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO, Linn. 

 Scolopax gallinago, Linn. Becassme ordinaire, 

 Temminck. Snipe, or Common Snipe of British 

 authors. The Common Snipe is abundant over 

 the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, and is 

 familiarly known to every sportsman. Many birds 



