22 JACK SXIPE. 



the beginning of March, while some stay till the first week in 

 April, or even remain till towards the end of that month. A 

 few individuals have heen met with here in summer. Mr. C. 

 Girdlestone had one brought to him in June, 1822. This was 

 in Norfolk; and in the year 1824, in May or June, he himself 

 saw a pair on Brad well Common, in that county. Two years 

 later another was brought to him. On the 1st. of August, 

 1833, one was shot on Barton Fen, where the person who 

 shot it said that he had once killed one in summer. In the 

 'Zoologist,' page 2830, three are stated to have been seen near 

 Melbourne, in Derbyshire, by J. J. Briggs, Esq., on the 18th. 

 of August, 1845. 



Lord Garvagh has seen this bird in summer, near Garvagh, 

 in the county of Londonderry, in Ireland, and obtained a nest 

 with four eggs taken on a heathy hill near there. It was 

 placed near a pool of water, and almost hid under a tuft of 

 rushes. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, has also given what he 

 considered an authenticated instance of the Judcock breeding 

 in Ireland. Mr. Hewitson has seen it on Prestwick Carr, in 

 Northumberland, in the breeding time; and the Rev. G. Low, 

 in Orkney, at the same season. 



It lies very close, and is not easily put up without a dog 

 indeed, even when set by a dog, it has been known to allow 

 itself to be taken up by the hand. At some times, nevertheless, 

 as on the beginning of a thaw after a frost, it appears more 

 on the alert, getting up almost as readily as the larger species. 

 When engaged with its nest, however, it is especially liable 

 to be overlooked, allowing itself to be even walked over without 

 moving. It is by no means shy of approaching houses. I 

 have shot one in a field close to my own garden. It is a bird 

 of solitary habits, and is mostly found singly, though two may 

 frequent the same locality more or less nearly. It is equal 

 as a delicacy for the table to the other species. 



Its flight is not very swift, but at the first rising of the 

 bird, very unsteady. It has a habit of returning to, or nearly 

 to, the same place from which it arose, and does not fly far 

 before doing so. The wings are considerably bent in flying. 



It feeds on small worms, larvae, and winter insects, and in 

 search of the former probes with its bill in the soft mud or 

 sand. It also swallows a little gravel with its food, and at 

 times seeds, but the latter perhaps accidentally. 



It makes its nest oh some grassy knoll, or among a tuft 

 of rushes. 



