THE BIRDS OF SGILLY. 339 



month or more. With favourable wind and weather far more 

 birds may be obtained in a single day than in an entire winter 

 when the winds are contrary. One day in January, 1879, for 

 instance, a record bag of ninety-three Full- and fourteen Jack- 

 Snipe was obtained on St, Mary's, where two small bits of 

 marshy ground form the most favoured resting-place in Scilly ; 

 whereas in 1868-69 only fourteen Full-Snipe are recorded for 

 the year. It is true there was a considerable difference in the 

 amount of shooting done during the two seasons, but the small 

 return of Snipe in 1868-69 seems to be due to the steady persist- 

 ence of westerly winds throughout the winter. In 1858 — a really 

 fine Snipe year on the islands — three hundred and sixty-four 

 Full- and Jack-Snipe are recorded, and of these Jenkinson ob- 

 tained ninety-three to his own gun in two days. In 1857 — 

 another exceptional Snipe year — the season's total bag for Snipe 

 amounted to two hundred and ninety-nine, and of these Jenkin- 

 son and Pechell killed forty-nine in one day on St. Mary's as the 

 birds came in, and at another time a hundred and one in two 

 days, thus accounting for one-half of the season's birds in three 

 days' shooting. On the former of these occasions the wind was 

 coming in from the east throughout the day ; on the latter the 

 wind had had a bit of east in it for several days. Jack-Snipe, as 

 a rule, are fairly common during the winter, but are by no 

 means so plentiful as Full- Snipe. The biggest day's bag was 

 fourteen in the winter of 1870-71. As a rule, where Jacks are 

 common, Full- Snipe are scarce. 



That rare American vagrant, the Pectoral Sandpiper, was 

 first obtained on Annett, May 27th, 1905, by D. Mitchell, who 

 saw another the following day (Yarrell's ' History of British 

 Birds,' 4th edit. vol. iii. p. 369). In September, 1870, no less 

 than five were secured — one by Jenkinson on Tresco, and one by 

 F. Jenkinson, and three by Pechell on St. Mary's. In October, 

 1880, one was shot by David Smith ; another was killed in 

 September, 1883, and the last recorded specimen by Dorrien- 

 Smith in September, 1891. Bonaparte's Sandpiper has been 

 twice obtained — by Pechell on Oct. 11th, 1854, and by F. E. 

 Eodd on the Higher Moors, St. Mary's, on Oct. 10th, 1870. The 

 Dunlin is common during winter in flocks with other small 

 shore birds. It has been noticed several times in May, but does 



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