Birds. 931 



the snipe to breed in the marshes about Yarmouth ; and my friend, 

 Mr. Peel, once flushed on Black Down, in the month of June, six 

 snipes in company. This looked very like a family party. 



The Jack Snipe is sufficiently numerous to afford ample amuse- 

 ment and practice to young shooters. I have, however, known it to 

 spoil the expected sport, by going clear away after the first shot. I 

 have occasionally heard the Jack snipe "speak" when flushed, though 

 not so loudly as the " full snipe." I have, too, observed that the bor- 

 ings of the Jack snipe are frequently double, by which I mean that it 

 has thrust its mandibles into the soft mud open. These borings were 

 not deep ; never more than half an inch : and sometimes they were 

 mere impressions of the points of the bill, separated as much as two, 

 and even three lines. 



Mr. H. Dennet killed, in the summer of 1842, on the banks of the 

 Medina, between Newport and Cowes, four birds, corresponding very 

 nearly with Mr. Yarrell's description of the Brown Snipe (Macro- 

 rhampus griseus). The length of the bill and size of the bird agreed 

 perfectly ; the plumage varied somewhat. Mr. Dennett could find 

 no such bird in Bewick ; nor had such a bird been seen previously by 

 any of the knowing ones. Unfortunately, they were not preserved. 

 My opinion is, that they were veritable examples of Macrorhampus 

 griseus. 



The Curlew Sandpiper. I saw, in the spring of 1844, in the pos- 

 session of Mr. Butler, a specimen of this bird, which he had shot, in 

 the preceding winter, amongst a flock of dunlins, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Yarmouth. 



The Knot Mr. Butler obtains occasionally at Yarmouth. August 

 13, 1844, I shot a bird of the year on the shore at Bonchurch. 



The Dunlin abounds during winter upon our northern shore, and in 

 Sandown Bay. In 1844 I obtained two dunlins, in full summer plu- 

 mage, one in Sandown Bay, May 9 ; the other at Bonchurch, May 1 8. 



The Purple Sandpiper I first obtained October 28, 1842. On that 

 day I killed a pair at one shot; on the 31st, another pair, also at one 

 shot. November 5, I obtained four more ; and in the course of the 

 winter I saw three or four others. They were usually in pairs ; and 

 so fearless as to allow me to approach within four or five yards. A 

 remark in my note-book runs thus : — " How comes it, that this bird, 

 never seen here before, is so numerous ? " In the winter of 1843, I 

 saw but one ; and only one did I see in 1844. On rising, this bird 

 utters a feeble note. Its food is the sandhopper. 



The Land Rail breeds with us but seldom ; but is usually abun- 

 dant during the latter part of September and the early part of the fol- 



