GRALLATORES. 191 



presence. Instead, however, of taking wing, he 

 crouched down in the middle of the water, immersing 

 the bill, and keeping the head and back as flat as 

 possible. In that position the bird remained for 

 more than a minute, and at a distance might well 

 have been mistaken for a stone ; but having come 

 out on purpose to try and shoot a few Snipe, I did 

 not feel inclined to let him escape, and so threw a 

 pebble at him, when he rose and was killed. 



Snipe are occasionally found so near London as 

 Hampstead Heath, which is somewhat curious, con- 

 sidering that that neighbourhood is now so thickly 

 populated. I remember to have seen in ' The Field' 

 newspaper, a few years since, a notice to the effect 

 that a live Snipe was found one winter's day in the 

 Strand. It was fluttering along the pavement, and, 

 oddly enough, was picked up by a gamekeeper, who, 

 like itself, was a stranger in London, and who, as 

 may be supposed, was considerably surprised at 

 meeting with this country acquaintance there. 



JACK SNIPE, Scolopax gallinula. The first flights, 

 so far as I have been enabled to observe, arrive here 

 during the first week of October. I once shot three 

 Jack Snipe as early as the 2nd of that month, but 

 they generally arrive about the 7th. This bird 

 appears to have such an attachment to particular 

 localities, that at any time in the month of October 

 I can walk to a certain spot, feeling confident of 

 finding a Jack Snipe. At one pond in particular, 



