GEEAT SNIPE 



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Many of the Great Snipes, which have been obtained, 

 have been flushed from dry soil, such as potato and clover- 

 fields, grass, heath, and bracken, and not from marshy 

 ground, so much frequented by the Common Snipe (A. 

 Patterson, ' Zoologist,' 1901, p. 101, and Caton Haigh, 

 ' Zoologist,' 1902, p. 130). In this respect the Great Snipe 

 somewhat resembles the Woodcock in its diurnal habits. 



FIG. 42. HEAD OF GEEAT SNIPE. 



Nat. size. 



Flight. This species may be distinguished 1 on the wing 

 from the Common Snipe by its superior size, straighter 



1 But the Great Snipe is best distinguished by its plumage-markings. 

 The relative sizes of the two birds is a less reliable test, especially 

 if both are not at hand to compare, as there is much variation 

 even in the same species. I have in my collection a large specimen 

 of a Common Snipe which in the flesh weighed 6 ozs. and 30 grs. 

 (Plate XXI.), and I have handled several Great Snipe weighing only 

 7 to 8 ozs. each, so that a novice, were he to judge from size alone, 

 might mistake the two birds. The Common Snipe has only fourteen 

 feathers in the tail, the Grc.xt Snipe has sixteen. But in the latter, 

 two or more of the tail-feathers may be missing (shot away), when 

 the dead bird is picked up, therefore a hasty conclusion as to the 

 correct species should not be arrived at by this method alone. The 

 beak, legs, and feet of the Great Snipe are relatively shorter than those of 

 the Common Snipe, but here, again, it is necessary to examine several 

 of the latter species owing to the large amount of existing variation in 

 the length of these parts. 



The Great Snipe, be it a large or small example, may readily be 

 distinguished by the presence of the bold, dark barring which extends 

 over the breast and abdomen, almost back to the tail-feathers ; in the 

 Common Snipe the abdomen is white. 



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