54 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



six or eight of these birds in one day, but a gentle- 

 man whose acquaintance I made at Naples, who was 

 devoted to Snipe-shooting, told me that if I was 

 there in May he could assure me of from a dozen to 

 twenty shots for several consecutive days at " Royal 

 Snipes " in the marshes of the Gulf of Salerno, 

 which are famous for the abundance of the common 

 species during the winter months. 



In England it would be difficult to name any 

 special spot as likely to hold a Great Snipe, but I 

 was told, during the first winter that I passed at 

 Corfu, that when the vernal migration of Quails had 

 set in I should be certain to find two or more of 

 these Snipes in a certain currant-ground within 

 two miles of the town, and I found this prediction 

 verified to the letter, as on the first morning that I 

 searched the said ground I found that I had been 

 forestalled by a native gunner, who ofiered me two 

 Great Snipes that he had just killed, with apologies 

 for having spoiled my chance. I was there the next 

 morning at daylight, and sure enough there were 

 three Great Snipes, which I brought to bag. I 

 visited this spot frequently till the middle of May, 

 never finding less than two of these birds, and on 

 one occasion five, though I beat similar ground in 

 the neighbourhood for miles without finding any- 

 thing worthy of powder and shot but Quails. On 

 rising, this bird almost always spreads out its tail, 

 and in spring occasionally utters a low croak. 



I presume that the name of Solitary was originally 

 applied to this bird from the fact that it is never seen 

 to rise in " wisps " or flocks like the Common Snipe ; 

 but in my experience it is exceptional to find one of 

 these birds without another or more in its immediate 



