5594 Birds. 



so strictly lateral. Macgillivray (Brit. Ornith. p. 377) says, in his description, that 

 the upper part of the head and hind-neck are brownish black, spotted with dull 

 chestnut brown : in the present bird the brown spots do not exist. The above 

 differences are slight, it is true, but all tend to show that the plumage is not constant, 

 and when we consider to how much variety S. gallinago is subject, especially the 

 under surface of the wing, which presents every variety of marking, from white to the 

 other extreme, it requires no very wide gap in the chain of the series to suppose 

 S. Sabini to be the result of an excess of colour, in the same way as the cream- 

 coloured varieties, which sometimes occur, may be said to be due to an absence of 

 colour. The measurements rather exceed the corresponding ones given by Thompson, 

 in his * Birds of Ireland' (vol. ii. pp. 274 and 276), but the present specimen being a 

 female, and consequently larger than the male, may account for the difference; they 

 are as follows:— Weight 4 oz.; whole length 11 T | in.; length of wing from flexure 

 5 in. ; stretch of wings 16 T | in. ; beak, measured along the ridge, %\\ in., along the edge 

 of the under mandible 2 T | in. ; tarsus 1 T 5 5 in.; middle toe 1 T $ in., its claw & in. ; outer 

 toe 1 5 \ in., its claw T | in. ; inner toe || in., its claw <& in. ; hind toe T 4 2 in., its claw 

 5 f in. ; tibia bare for 3 lines above the tarsal joint ; toes all separate ; first and second 

 primary quills the same length ; number of tail feathers 11 ; colour of the legs olive- 

 green ; iris dark hazel. Of the colour of the beak I regret I can say nothing, for the 

 bird having been killed five days when I saw it, had faded apparently in this respect, 

 as also the legs and iris, though the above colours, doubtless darker in the case of the 

 legs than when alive, were quite distinct. The bird had not quite got over its 

 autumn moult, which may account for the first and second wing-feathers being of the 

 same length, and also for the number of tail-feathers, the full complement of which is 

 fourteen, as I was able most satisfactorily to detect the loss of three. I was unable to 

 obtain, while the skin was fresh, a fresh specimen of the common snipe, in order to 

 compare the respective thickness of the tarsi, but, from the dry leg, if any existed, the 

 difference must have been slight: and, lastly, in drawing a comparison between the 

 sterna of the two, T am able to state that no specific difference, or rather no difference 

 at all, exists; the length and breadth of the sternum, the cnrvature and depth of the 

 keel, and the curvature of the furcula, all correspond exactly in each ; in fact, it is im- 

 possible to distinguish them, and this is testimony in favour of the species being the 

 same of no small value, for Mr. Alfred Newton, whose valuable collection of breast- 

 bones exhibits specimens of several species of Scolopax, assures me that a very marked 

 difference subsists between the sterna of every member of the genus with which he is 

 acquainted, and made special reference to those of S. gallinago and S. Wilsonii, 

 species which, be it remembered, were for some time confounded: he also showed me 

 the sterna of S. major and S. gallinula, which differed materially from each other and 

 from either of the above. Further anatomical comparison, I regret to say, is beyond 

 me, but, should such be deemed necessary, I have preserved the body. Taking into 

 account the rare and casual occurrence of this bird, and the fact of its never having 

 been noticed out of the British islands, as well as our total ignorance respecting its 

 breeding locality, the ground of colour alone seems insufficient to establish it in the 

 rank it holds ; but it is for more able hands than mine to decide its fate, whether it 

 maintains its present position or takes its place as a highly interesting variety of the 

 common species. — Osbert Salvia; Trinity Hall, Cambridge, February, 1857. 



Occurrence of the Bittern in Derbyshire. — This bird is becoming a rather rare 

 visitant in this county: one was killed on the 3rd of March last, in the parish of Mel- 



