BIRDS MET WITH BY THE WILDFOWLER 349 
of mud becomes almost invisible, so well do its colours har- 
monise with its surroundings. 
Its method of ‘‘squatting ” is rather peculiar, for it puts its 
beak down and its body and tail well in the air and generally 
pressed up against some growing vegetation. In this position 
the two light dorsal stripes appear like blades of grass, and all 
trace of the contour and shape of the bird is lost. 
The sexes are alike in plumage. The general colour above 
is dark brown, with a light buff stripe across the crown and two 
stripes of a similar colour down the back, which is also mottled 
with buffish. Cheeks and chin are white, flecked with dark 
brown ; chest and flanks ash-brown ; rest of under parts white. 
The young resemble their parents, but show more uniformity in 
- coloration of the upper parts. Length 10°75 in. ; bill 2°5 in.; 
wing 5 in. 
There is a dark variety of this bird, known as Sabine’s 
Snipe, which is occasionally met with, especially in Ireland. 
It has the whole of the upper parts ash-brown, barred with 
black, and the light stripes on the back are absent. Inter- 
mediates between the normal and the true Sabines are not 
uncommon. 
JACK SNIPE 
Scolopax gallinula (Linneus) 
Breeding in the north-western corner of Europe as far 
east as Archangel, the Jack Snipe is a common autumn and 
winter visitor to this country, arriving towards the end of 
October and often not leaving our shores till well on in 
summer, but there is no authenticated case of its ever having 
bred with us. In habits it closely resembles the Common 
Snipe, but lies much closer when being ‘‘walked up,” and 
then, rising at one’s feet, goes off at a great.pace. It is a 
more solitary bird than the Common Snipe, and a single one 
may often be found for a whole winter in the same spot. 
