651 



n 



Snipe — so much so that I at first thought it was a Water-Rail, and let it go a long way before I 

 fired. Mr. John Warren Payne, of Beach House, Bantry, was with me at the time ; and as he 

 expressed a wish to add it to his collection, I gave it to him." 



It is somewhat remarkable that Sabine's Snipe has, with one exception, not been known to 

 occur out of the British Islands ; and even here it is extremely rare. Mr. Harting, in the ' Field ' 

 of December 10th, 1870, gave a list of twenty-four occurrences recorded up to that date, the 

 specimen from Bantry Bay not being included in it; and Mr. Harting also states (Handb. Brit. 

 B. p. 52, footnote) that one now in the British Museum was shot near Paris by a friend of the 

 late M. Jules Verreaux. I may remark that examples of Sabine's Snipe vary considerably 

 inter se in tone of colour, some being very much darker than others — which tends also to prove 

 that it cannot be a distinct species, but only a dark variety. It has been obtained in England 

 and Ireland ; but, so far as I can ascertain, it has not yet been recorded from Scotland. 



The specimens figured are : — on one Plate a very pale-coloured example from Asia Minor ; 

 and on the second Plate an ordinary rather dark bird from England, and a specimen of the dark 

 form usually called Sabine's Snipe. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, 6 . Leadenhall Market, b, juv. Stoneyhurst, Lancashire, May 20th, 1873 [Baron von H'tigel). c, juv. 

 Altenkirchen, near Coblentz (Sachse). d, $. Near Seville, Spain, January 12th, 1872 [Colonel Irby). 

 e, $. Archangel, June 18th, 1877 [Piottuch). f, <3 . Smyrna, January 10th, 1866. g. East of Chauda, 

 February 26th, 1870 [TV. T. Blanford) . h, d . Yokohama, Japan, February 10th, 1870 [Captain Conrad). 



E Mus. H. Seebohm. 



a,b, $. Heligoland, November 1877 [Gatke). c, g. Moscow, September 20th, 1869 [J. H. Gurney, Jun.). 

 d, ? . Yennesei, East Siberia, June 9th, 1877 [H. Seebohm). e, <$ . Yennesei, June 14th, 1877 [H. S.). 



6m 



