The Snipes. 465 



The general colour of the upper 

 plumage of the Common Snipe is black 

 and buff, evenly distributed, and not in 

 large patches, as in the Wood-Snipe. 

 The forehead and crown of the head are 

 black, sometimes mottled with buff. A 

 broad buff band runs from the bill 

 down the middle of the crown. A 

 black band connects the eye with the 

 bill, and above this there is a buff band. 

 The chin is whitish. The sides of the 

 head are pale buff, mottled with brown. 

 The sides of the neck and the hindneck 

 are buff, streaked with brown. The back 

 is black, the long, lateral, pointed feathers * 

 very broadly margined with buff on the 

 outer web, these margins forming two 

 very conspicuous broad bands down the 

 sides of the back. The scapulars are 

 black, margined and irregularly barred 

 with rufous buff. The lower part of the 

 back is brown, the feathers tipped with 



* Many writers state that the two broad buff 

 bands on the back of a Snipe, so characteristic 

 of these birds, are formed by the margins of the 

 outer scapulars. This is quite incorrect. The 

 bands are formed by the margins of certain long, 

 pointed feathers, which spring from either side 

 of the upper back. The outer scapulars are 

 margined with buff in a much smaller degree. 



VOL. II. 30 



