SNIPE 



It has been confidently supposed by some English- 

 men who have shot snipe in South Africa that the 

 birds bagged belonged to our well - known British 

 species, the common snipe {Gallinago ccelestis). This 

 is a mistake. The common snipe has never yet been 

 identified in that country, or, indeed, in Africa south 

 of the equator. The mistake, however, is a pardonable 

 one. The common South African snipe {Gallinago 

 nigripennis) bears a great resemblance to our English 

 bird, yet it is to be readily distinguished by an exami- 

 nation of the tail feathers. The British snipe has only 

 fourteen of these feathers, while the South African 

 species — a bird found widely in the continent of Africa 

 — possesses sixteen. The African snipe is also richer 

 in colouring and of somewhat larger size. Cape snipe 

 give excellent sport, and very good bags are made with 

 them. From thirty to thirty-five couple is by no means 

 an uncommon record to a single gun in half a day's 

 shooting. These birds, of course, shift a good deal 

 with the seasons and are found most plentifully during 

 the time of rains. One of the painted snipes {Rhynchcea 

 Capensis)y a very beautiful bird, is also found in South 

 Africa, but not in such large numbers as the common 

 African or black-quilled species. African snipe are, in 

 my experience, by no means such difficult shooting as 

 are their English cousins, the common snipe and jack- 

 snipe. The flight of the South African bird is, compared 

 with that of our English snipe, slow and laboured, and 

 the average gunner will find them much more easily 

 bagged. The Cape snipe, by the way, weighs occa- 

 sionally as much as eight or nine ounces, which is 

 about the weight of our double or solitary snipe. 



Of all these birds none, in my opinion — although 

 I know that the double snipe has a great and deserved 

 reputation — can excel in flavour our common snipe, 



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