268 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



instinct of confidence in its colours that is so marked a feature 

 of the Jack. Although, indeed, on occasion suffering an ap- 

 proach of a few feet, it more often rises at from twenty to a 

 hundred yards, and usually advertises its going in no weak 

 voice. It is a mistake to hold the opinion that the bird never 

 rises in silence — it does so frequently. 



The careful study of the growth of the individual Common 

 Snipe and the examination of the adult plumage show at once 

 that the bird is in a state of transition, and that the livery worn 

 by the Jack-Snipe is the end toivards ivhich it is -progressing . The 

 young bird in its first plumage (after the down stage) is heavily 

 cross-barred, but as it gets older the bars become less distinct, 

 and arranged to form a longitudinally marked mosaic. Under 

 the wings, where they will not show in the crouching bird, the 

 transverse markings are well-defined, but on the exposed parts 

 of the flanks, which must match the grass and sedge if the 

 bird is to remain inconspicuous, one can trace the develop- 

 ment from cross-bars to stripes. On the sides of the lower 

 neck each feather is undeniably barred, yet the general effect 

 is that of a streaked plumage (a state of affairs stated erro- 

 neously to be unknown in birds; cf. Newton's 'Dictionary 

 of Birds,' p. 99). Eeally, this should be carefully observed in 

 the dead bird, for it is difficult to describe except at considerable 

 length. 



The Common Snipe is notoriously instable in size, structure, 

 colour, habits, and even geographical range. In a single batch 

 of birds I have noticed bills varying in length from 2*30 in. to 

 2*80 in. It is hard to express bodily size in inches, and weight 

 depends largely on the presence or the absence of fat, but the 

 bird certainly varies in bulk. Normally, in England, the bird 

 possesses fourteen tail-feathers, but occasionally odd ones are 

 detected with twelve or sixteen. In North America the latter 

 form is the usual one, and in Asia there is one form with tail- 

 feathers varying from twenty to twenty-eight. This last is the 

 '• Pintailed Snipe " {Gallinago stenura) of ornithologists. I have 

 had the opportunity of making careful dissections of some half 

 dozen birds of this form, and comparing every part with the 

 corresponding features of the Common Snipe. They are abso- 

 lutely identical. The only differences are in the shape and 



