136 GREAT SNIPE. 



that gentleman replied in July, 1846 : — 'The Solitary Snipe I have at different times shot 

 here, is much larger than the Common Snipe; bill, shorter; plumage, nearly alike, with 

 the exception of the belly, which in the Common is white, but in the Solitary is speckled 

 with gray and brown. It lies close, and when flushed, makes no cry, flies steadily without 

 twisting, and slower than the Common, (probably from its fatness, and not being a shy 

 bird,) and pitches again, like the Jack Snipe, after a short flight of thirty or forty yards. 

 I never heard a cry from it; but sportsmen abroad have told me it has one, not, however, 

 resembling that of the Common Snipe. I believe that every year several come over, 

 though not found by sportsmen, who do not know where to look for them; — not in bogs, 

 but in long-grass fields, in marshy neighbourhoods. They frequent these abroad, and are 

 called Meadow Snipe, ( Wiesen-schnejofe. ) They breed in the marshes of Hungary, and, 

 being migratory, come to the marshy district between Laibach and Upper Laibach, long- 

 before any frost could influence their flight. They remain there not more than a fortnight, 

 and, I know from sportsmen, are soon afterwards found in quantities in the Pontine 

 marshes. The Double Snipe of the continent is the same as the bird I have killed in 

 Ireland. In one winter, about fifteen years ago, Solitary Snipes were plentiful in the 

 grassy lands of Hayestown, at the foot of the mountain of Forth, about four miles from 

 Wexford. Every day I shot there, I got three or four birds ; since that time the ground 

 has been drained, and all kinds of Snipe have quitted it; but I generally get a few 

 elsewhere in the course of the winter's shooting in the county of Wexford.'" 



Out of this country the Great Snipe is rare in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Bohemia. 

 It breeds in Norway, Sweden, Holland, and Germany. It has been obtained at Trebizond, 

 and in the Caucasus. 



They are said to be "most delicious eating," and are dressed in the same way as the 

 Woodcock and the other Snipes, with the trail in. 



The Great Snipe approaches in some of its habits and manners to the Jack Snipe, 

 rather than to the Common Snipe. When flushed, it flies but a short distance, and then 

 settles again; it rises without any cry, and flies much more heavily and steadily than 

 the Common Snipe, and is consequently an easy mark for the sportsman: should he 

 however wish to follow out and enjoy the shooting and eating these birds, he must proceed 

 to Sweden, where Mr. Greiff states that fifty or sixty may be killed in one day, partic- 

 ularly in autumn, when they are extremely fat: this fatness has been remarked upon by 

 nearly all those who have been fortunate in meeting them in any numbers, and their 

 heavy flight has been attributed to this cause. Their haunts are said to be somewhat 

 different to those of the Common Snipe, being long-grass marshy fields, and not bogs. 

 By far the greatest number of birds shot in this country are young birds of the year; 

 but we have seen a fine old specimen, which had been procured in Ireland; the 

 locality we could not ascertain. The breast and abdomen of this specimen were more 



