22 SCOLOPACIDJE. 



British Islands. On the 26th of October, 1 824, a female of 

 this species was shot on the banks of the Medway, near 

 Rochester, and is preserved in the valuable collection of Mr. 

 Dunning, of Maidstone. The specimen was kindly com- 

 municated to me by that gentleman, and was exhibited to 

 the Zoological Club on the 23rd of November, 1824. It 

 accords in every particular with the specimen first obtained, 

 with the exception of being somewhat smaller. This dif- 

 ference of size most probably indicates the difference of 

 sex." This example passed some years since into the pos- 

 session of Mr. Gould. A third specimen was afterwards 

 exhibited at one of the evening meetings of the Zoological 

 Society in London, by Mr. W. Thompson of Belfast. 

 " This bird was shot by Captain Bonham of the 10th 

 Hussars, at the end of November or beginning of Decem- 

 ber, 1827, near Garvagh, in the county of Londonderry, 

 being the second individual killed in Ireland. In a letter 

 to a mutual friend, Captain Bonham remarks of this bird, 

 that it sprung from the side of a high heathery hill, from 

 which Common Snipes were at the same time raised, but 

 that it did not call as they do. His want of success in not 

 obtaining it before the third shot afforded Captain Bonham 

 an opportunity of remarking its disregard for his presence, 

 which was manifested by its alighting quite near again, 

 after being fired at, in the manner of the Jack Snipe." 



Mr. Selby has since recorded a fourth example, which 

 was received by him from Morpeth, possessing all the cha- 

 racteristics of Mr. Vigors' bird : the under parts were per- 

 haps a little darker, having fewer bars or undulations of the 

 lighter tint. 



In 1836, Mr. Eyton, in his Rarer British Birds, says, he 

 was informed by the Earl of Malmesbury that a Snipe of 

 this species had been killed by his son, in the breeding- 

 season, near Heron Court in Hampshire. 



