SCOLOPACIN^E. SCOLOPAX. 103 



from an individual killed in Queen's County, in Ireland, in 

 1822. A few specimens have since been obtained in Eng- 

 land. It has not been met with in any other part of the world. 

 Scolopax Sabini, Vigors, Linn. Trans, xiv. 556. Scolopax 

 Sabini, Jardine and Selby's Illustrations of Ornith. pi. xxvii. 

 Scolopax Sabinii, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. iv. 432. Scolopax 

 Sabini, Sabine's Snipe, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



206. SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO. BLEATER SNIPE. 



Tail rounded, of fourteen feathers ; secondary quills round- 

 ed ; bill twice the length of the head ; on the head two lon- 

 gitudinal black bands separated by a narrower medial reddish- 

 white band, and on each side a reddish-white band; the 

 upper parts variegated with black and light red, with four 

 longitudinal yellowish-white bands ; sides transversely barred 

 with dusky ; axillar feathers white, barred with greyish- 

 black, lower tail-coverts light red, barred with dusky ; bill 

 greyish-blue at the base, dusky in the rest of its extent, but 

 with two- thirds of the ridge flesh-coloured ; feet pale green- 

 ish-blue. 



Male, 10, 17, 5J, 2 T \, 1 T ^, 1^, T V Female, 10J, 17J. 



Adult birds vary considerably in size, and especially in the 

 length of the bill. Albinoes and variegated individuals are 

 also sometimes met with. This species is generally distri- 

 buted in Britain and Ireland, residing in marshy places, 

 moors, and wet meadows. In summer it leaves the southern 

 parts, and breeds on the heaths and moorlands, forming a 

 slight nest in a hollow, and laying four very large pyriform 

 eggs, an inch and seven-twelfths in length, an inch and one- 

 twelfth in breadth, of a greyish-yellow colour, tinged with 

 greenish-blue, irregularly patched and spotted with dark- 

 brown and brownish-grey. The young, covered with down of 

 a brownish-red colour, spotted with dusky brown and white 

 on the upper parts, presently leave the nest, concealing them- 

 selves by crouching. The males, in the breeding season, 

 ascend high in the air, where they wheel about, and, by quiver- 

 ing their wings while descending in a curve, produce a sin- 

 gular noise, somewhat resembling the bleating of an old goat. 

 In winter they betake themselves to the lower parts, feeding 

 chiefly at night, and procuring their food entirely by plung- 

 ing their bills into the mud. Their flesh being delicate and 

 savoury, they are in much request, and are caught in various 

 ways, as well as shot, in great numbers. The flight of this 



