THE GREAT SNIPE. 261 



in October 1827, and were killed by him "right and left." They 

 were noted at the time as larger than the common snipe, with the 

 bill rather shorter ; as flying more slow and heavily than that 

 species, and with the tail spread like an open fan. They were 

 taken away by the late Earl of Errol, who was on a visit at Lyons 

 at the time, to be preserved. The great snipe is believed to have 

 been shot in the county of Kerry.* 



Mr. Lloyd, author of ' Field Sports in the North of Europe/ 

 to whom this- species is well known, never met with it in Ireland 

 during his sporting tours, in the seasons from 1814 to 1822.t 



There can be no doubt that many of the birds which have been 

 noticed were the true S. major, which must be considered a rare 

 visitant to Ireland. I never could meet with one among the 

 thousands of snipes exposed for sale during the autumn and 

 winter in Belfast. 



Some of these birds visit England not uncommonly — perhaps 

 annually — on their migration to or from the north of Europe to 

 breed ; but more especially the young when moving southward 

 in autumn. There is no positive notice of their occurrence in 

 Scotland in the works of Fleming, Jardine, or Macgillivray. Mr. 

 St. John states that he once only met with the species in that 

 country; — in Sutherlandshire.J The great snipe is mentioned 

 as having appeared several times in September 1815, in marshy 

 ground at the island of San day. § As well remarked by Mr. 

 Selby, " The immediate direction of their latitudinal flight is 

 much to the east of the longitude of the British Islands." In 

 Mr. YarrelTs ' History of British Birds ' much interesting in- 

 formation on this species will be found. 



* Mr. R. Chute. f ' Sporting Review,' October 1847, p. 259. 



% ' Wild Sports/ &c. p. 223. § Hist. Nat. Oread, p. 66 (1848). 



