54- GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



showing a similarity in these respects to their 

 diminutive congener the jack-snipe (scolopax gal- 

 linula). In all the examples that I have seen, 

 the bill was much shorter than in the common 

 snipe ; but the most obvious distinction consists 

 in the brown marginal markings extending over 

 the feathers of the breast and belly, nearly as 

 low as the vent, while the same parts in the 

 common species are of a pure white. 



A friend of mine, who passed some time in 

 the Austrian provinces to the south of the Da- 

 nube, told me that he frequently killed these 

 birds during their autumnal migration, but that 

 he rarely found them when the winter had set 

 in. He remarked that they well deserve the 

 title of e solitary,' as he did not remember having 

 ever sprung two at the same moment. 



Although still abundant in some parts of Ire- 

 land, the common snipe is less generally dis- 

 tributed even there than formerly, while it has 

 almost disappeared from many districts in Eng- 

 land, where, about twenty years ago, it might 

 have been considered plentiful. Indeed, the ad- 

 mirer of snipe-shooting will find comparatively 

 little room for indulgence in his favourite pastime 

 on this side of St. George's Channel. He should 

 betake himself to the great bogs and rushy swamps 

 of the sister island, or the marshes of Italy and 



