280 CHAKADBIID.E 



JACK SNIPE. Gallinago gallinula (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 80; Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' vol. vii, pi. 544 ; Lilford, 

 * Coloured Figures,' vol. v, pi. 28. 



It is strange that so many still adhere to the erroneous 

 idea that the Jack Snipe is the male of the preceding 

 species, for the two birds are quite distinct, not only in 

 size and plumage-markings, but also in several habits. 



Unlike its larger congener, the Jack Snipe is only a 

 migrant to our country, although it is noteworthy that 

 a few stragglers and immature birds have been observed 

 during the breeding-months, even throughout the entire 

 summer. As yet there is no record of the discovery of the 

 nest in the British Isles. 



The vast majority of birds reach us during October, 

 some earlier, though they are seldom seen before 

 September. 



In April the return journey northward takes place. 



Marshy swamps, wet meadows, tufts of rushes, and 

 less frequently ground devoid of cover, are the haunts of 

 this bird, and though far less numerous than the Common 

 Snipe, it is on the whole more widely distributed over 

 Great Britain and Ireland. In some of the northern 

 districts of Donegal, it is the more numerous species 

 (H. C. Hart). 



It is sometimes found in close proximity to the tide. 

 The late Mr. E. Williams repeatedly procured specimens 

 flushed from small clumps of rushes along the shores of 

 Dublin Bay : such birds were observed generally in pairs. 



Mr. F. H. Walker informs me that he has several times 

 seen them running in front of his setter-dog, and he has 

 watched the birds as they wended their way through rushes 

 and grasses at a rapid pace. At times a Jack Snipe will 

 alight on the open ground like a Sky-Lark, and then run 

 towards a tuft of rushes, in which it will conceal itself. 



Flight. When aroused from the marsh and put to flight 

 this species is not difficult to identify. It gets up, without 

 a note of warning, and pursues its flight for a hundred 

 yards or so, when it suddenly alights, and at times 

 returns almost to the spot from which it started. Though 

 sufficiently fast on the wing to test the aim of a good 

 marksman, yet it does not twist in the air in the zig- 



