SCOLOPAX.] AVES GRALLATORES. 205 



DESCRIPT. Cheeks, throat, neck, and breast, brownish black, speckled 

 with chestnut-brown ; belly and abdomen grayish black, with transverse 

 bars of chestnut-brown : back and scapulars deep black, with chestnut- 

 brown bars and spots ; under wing-coverts blackish gray : tail of twelve 

 feathers, black at the base, ferruginous at the tip, with transverse black 

 bars : bill brownish black, with a tinge of chestnut at the base of the 

 upper mandible : legs brownish black. (Egg.) Unknown. 



A rare and little known species first described by Mr Vigors from a 

 specimen shot in the Queen's County in Ireland, in August 1822. Since 

 then, two other individuals have occurred in Kent, a third in another 

 part of Ireland, and a fourth near Morpeth in Northumberland. This last 

 is in the collection of Mr Selby. Has not hitherto been met with in any 

 other part of the world. 



199. S. major, Gmel. (Great Snipe.) All the under 

 parts spotted and barred with black : tail of sixteen 

 feathers. 



S. major, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 675. Great Snipe, Mont. 

 Orn. Diet. $ Supp. Selb. Illust. vol. n. p. 115. pi. 23. f. 2. 

 Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. n. p. 415. 



DIMENS. Entire length twelve inches six lines : length of the bill two 

 inches nine lines : breadth, wings extended, nineteen inches. 



DESCRIPT. Crown of the head black, divided in the middle by a 

 longitudinal streak of yellowish white ; between the bill and the eye 

 a dusky brown streak: cheeks, eyelids, and throat, yellowish white, 

 speckled with brown : hind part of the neck pale yellowish brown, 

 spotted with black: back and scapulars variegated with black and 

 chestnut-brown, many of the feathers edged on their outer webs with 

 yellowish white; greater coverts tipped with white: under parts 

 white, tinged with yellowish brown, spotted and barred all over with 

 blackish brown : quills dusky : tail of sixteen feathers, black for two- 

 thirds of its length from the base, the remaining portion bright chestnut 

 with black bars, the tip yellowish white : bill pale brown, inclining to 

 flesh-colour at the base : legs greenish gray. (Egg.) Yellow olive-brown, 

 spotted with two shades of reddish brown : long. diam. one inch nine 

 lines ; trans, diam. one inch two lines. 



A rare and only occasional visitant in this country. Inhabits extensive 

 marshes in the North of Europe. Nest said to be placed in such situa- 

 tions, amongst rushes and other herbage. Eggs three or four in num- 

 ber. Food, worms, insects, and small shells. 



200. S. Gallinago, Linn. (Common Snipe.) Neck 

 and breast mottled with black and pale ferruginous ; belly 

 and abdomen pure unspotted white: tail of fourteen 

 feathers. 



S. Gallinago, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. n. p. 676. Common Snipe, 

 Mont. Orn. Diet. Selb. Illust. vol. n. p. 121. pi. 23. f. 3. Snipe, 

 Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. n. p. 50. 



DIMENS. Entire length eleven inches five lines : length of the bill 

 (from the forehead) two inches ten lines and a half, (from the gape) two 

 inches ten lines ; of the tarsus one inch two lines ; of the tail two inches 



