AND NEIGSBOUMHOOD. 51 



Solitary Snipes in this neighbourhood, but almost all 

 my informants, on investigation, seem to have been 

 deceived, either by an unusually heavy specimen of 

 the Common Snipe, or in many cases to have taken 

 the Green Sandpiper for the real article. 



Personally I have only seen one of this species on 

 wing near Lilford ; this took place in September 

 1850. I had just shot two Partridges from a small 

 covey on a grassy bean- stubble near Aldwincle, and 

 was ramming the wadding on to my powder in re- 

 loading, when a large Snipe with a great deal of 

 white about it, and tail spread out fan-wise, rose 

 within a few feet of me and flew low and slowly to 

 a high fence, which it just topped, in a manner that 

 made me feel sure that it had dropped close on the 

 far side of the hedge. I made for the nearest gap, 

 and beat every inch of the large pasture-field with 

 two good dogs, but saw nothing more of the Snipe. 

 I was convinced at the time that this was a Great 

 Snipe, and since I have become well acquainted with 

 the species am more than ever certain of the fact. 



Mr. G. Hunt of Wadenhoe shot a Great Snipe 

 near Thorpe on Sept. loth, 1880. This bird, a 

 young female, weighing a little over 8 oz., is now 

 stuffed in my collection, and is the only Northamp- 

 tonshire specimen that I ever handled, but Mr. Hunt 

 assured me that within a short time of killing this 

 bird he shot another near the same spot, which fell 

 into the river, then in full flood, and through lack of 

 a retriever was lost. 



The Hon. Thos. W. Fitzwilliam, in a letter dated 

 Nov. 17th, 1883, wrote : — " I am quite certain that I 

 saw two Great Snipes yesterday, one got up under 

 my horse's nose in the ploughed field, wheat now 



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