SNIPE SHOOTING. 181 



tions the fact, that the great snipe is nearly always 

 met with in autumn, comparatively few being found 

 in the spring, or on their re-migration. 



This is the Great Double, or Solitary Snipe, of 

 British authors ; so named from its habits of skulking 

 alone or in pairs. Its flight is heavy and peculiar, 

 and its tail spread out fan-like. Its plumage is very 

 similar to that of the common snipe, with some differ- 

 ences : it has sixteen tail feathers, the five outermost 

 beautifully-marked, black bars on white, and triangular 

 markings on belly, sides, and thighs. From the tip 

 of the bill to the toes, it might measure rather more 

 than fourteen inches ; its weight about eight ounces ; 

 bill about four inches long. The internal structure 

 of the great snipe is said to be remarkably similar to 

 that of the woodcock. The bird has been not unfre- 

 quently met with in Kent, and in various parts of 

 Lancashire. Its most usual breeding continental 

 range appears to be Norway and Sweden, and in 

 Holland more rarely. 



Jardine specifies, that in comparison with the 

 common snipe, " the bill and legs are short; the 

 tibia bare for only a short distance above the tarsal 

 joint." Bewick mentions three specimens of a large 

 snipe, but which could not clearly be ascertained as 

 " a distinct species, or whether it acquires its bulk 

 and change of plumage from age, and its solitary habits 

 from ceasing to breed." 



There is a species of snipe, infinitely more rare 

 than the solitary heather-bleater ; it appears an 



