WHITE AND PIED WOODCOCKS 297 



at Portledge that had been seen in the coverts /or 

 several seasons in sriccession. Mr John Gatcombe 

 described a very pretty variety which was sent into 

 Plymouth from Cornwall. It had a pure white 

 patch on the top of its head, a ring round the neck 

 taking in part of the chest, and white wing-coverts, 

 the bases of the primaries being also tinged with 

 the same ; the other parts were of the usual colour, 

 or, perhaps, a shade lighter, the whole plumage 

 strongly reminding him, as he said, of that of the 

 Snow Bunting in winter. 



Mr J. Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge, near 

 Mansfield, has in his collection some curious 

 varieties of the Woodcock. One of these is white, 

 with patches of black on the head, back, and tail, 

 and with faint longitudinal streaks on the primaries 

 and secondaries. This bird was shot in Ireland, 

 near Londonderry, in 1880. One of the latest 

 instances noted occurred at Fishley, Norfolk, 

 where, on January 29, 1895, ^ white Woodcock was 

 shot by Mr Read. Finally, I may mention " a 

 melanite form," so described by Babington in his 

 Birds of Suffolk, which was shot near Ousden Hall, 

 in that county, on November 2, 1884, and a black 

 variety shot at Cromer, as recorded in the Field 

 of November 13, 1869. 



Thus it would appear that white and pied Wood- 

 cocks, and even black or very dark varieties like the 

 so-called Sabine's Snipe, have been met with at 

 irregular intervals in various parts of the country, 

 and further search would doubtless bring to light 

 many more instances than those above cited. 



