654 



brown, the crown marked with deep rufous ; rest of the head yellowish buff ; hind neck and fore part 

 of the back wood-brown, variegated with dark brown and white ; rest of the back and scapulars 

 blackish, richly glossed with green and purple, and marked with deep ferruginous or chestnut-red, the 

 feathers on each side broadly margined with pale ochreous, forming conspicuous lateral stripes ; rump 

 black, glossed with purple ; quills blackish, the first quill with the outer web greyish white on the basal 

 half ; inner secondaries margined and mottled with deep rufous ; wing-coverts margined with rufous 

 grey or dull greyish ; tail blackish, margined and mottled with deep rufous, the central rectrices elon- 

 gated ; chin and upper throat white ; sides of the head white, slightly marked with dark brown and 

 rufous brown ; a stripe passes from the base of the lower mandible below the eye to the nape, lower 

 throat, breast, and flanks greyish buff, slightly clouded with reddish brown, and marked with dark 

 brown ; rest of the underparts white ; the under tail-coverts striped with brown ; bill at the base 

 yellowish flesh-coloured, becoming black towards the tip ; legs greyish, tinged with green on the 

 joints; iris dark brown. Total length about 7 - 5 inches, culmen T7, wing 4'25, tail 1-9, tarsus 0'95. 



Adult Female. Undistinguishable from the male in plumage, except that, perhaps, it is a trifle duller in 

 coloration. 



Adult in winter (Turkey, 16th January). Differs from the adult in summer dress merely by having the 

 upper parts less richly glossed with purple and green. 



Young in down (Muonioniska, July 1872) . Entire upper parts richly varied deep rufous and black, and 

 dotted here and there with white ; a buffy white streak passes from the forehead over the eye ; below 

 this is a dark brown streak covering the lores to the eye ; from the base of the lower mandible another 

 white streak passes below the eye, and one also from the chin (which is buffy white) along the side of 

 the head to the nape ; underparts dark reddish brown, slightly varied with blackish brown ; bill and 

 legs much developed. 



Throughout the whole of Northern Europe and Asia the present species is tolerably widely 

 distributed throughout the breeding-season, migrating southward at the approach of winter. It 

 is, however, only known to breed in the high north ; and though it has been stated to have 

 nested in Great Britain, Holland, and Germany, yet proof of its having done so is as yet wanting, 

 and it may well be doubted if this bird has ever remained to breed so far south as in any of these 

 countries. With us in Great Britain it is strictly a winter visitant, not so numerous as the 

 common Snipe, and is found throughout the country in suitable localities. It arrives in England 

 usually in October, and leaves again in March ; but there are many instances of it having been 

 met with earlier and later than these dates : thus Mr. Stevenson says that he has seen a couple 

 shot on the 14th September, and that Mr. Lubbock saw one killed on Barton Fen on the 1st 

 of August; but the larger proportion arrive in England in October, in which month and in 

 November they are usually most numerous with us. It is a hardier bird than the common 

 Snipe, and may sometimes be seen in weather so cold that the common Snipe has been driven 

 away. It leaves our shores in March, but sometimes remains later. Mr. Harting has seen it in 

 Sussex as late as the 14th April; and Mr. Stevenson says that it is " by no means unusual to 

 observe Jack Snipe hanging for sale in the Norwich market between the first and second week 

 in April, and in cold backward seasons as late as the 24th, or even into the following month." 

 Professor Newton informs me that he has flushed a Jack Snipe in Norfolk on the 4th of May. 



