CLXVIII. 



SCOLOPAX GALLINULA. 



Jack Snipe. Judcock. 



There are several reported instances of the Jack Snipe 

 having been shot in this country during the summer season. 



Mr. Selby was assured, during his visit to Sutherland- 

 shire, that it breeds annually in that county, although not 

 so fortunate as to find it. 



I have seen it at Prestwick Carr, near Newcastle, after 

 the Common Snipe had begun to lay its eggs ; and have 

 very little doubt that some of them remain to breed on the 

 extensive moors and morasses of Scotland and Ireland. 



Such places are frequented only by the cutters of peat, 

 and are very rarely trodden either by the ornithologist, or 

 any one interested in his favourite subject, neither is it the 

 time of year for the pursuits of the sportsman. 



The Jack Snipe is at all times difficult to raise, and dur- 

 ing the time that it is sitting upon its eggs, would allow 

 you to walk over it without being flushed; and unless care- 

 fully sought for with the assistance of a dog, would remain 

 undetected. 



Temminck says that they breed plentifully near St. Pe- 

 tersburgh ; and the late Mr. John Hoy found its eggs at 

 Falconswaerd, in North Brabant : but I have to regret that 

 his death has deprived me of that information he was al- 

 ways ready to communicate. 



The accompanying figure is from one of the eggs brought 

 home by him, and presented to Mr. Henry Doubleday a 

 short time before his death. It has all the character of a 

 Snipe's egg, and could not be mistaken for that of any 

 other genus. 



I have no hesitation in saying that the Jack Snipe, like 

 the whole of the Scolopacidaj, lays four eggs. 



A drawing lent me by Mr. Yarrcll, and made from a 

 Jack Snipe's egg in the Paris Museum, differs from my fi- 

 gure in being a good deal less. 



