THE JACK SNIPE. 275 
confess that, not having paid in past times any close attention 
to the matter, I can now only say that in different seasons, 
and in different parts of the country, it arrives between the 
latter end of August and October, but on the whole I believe 
somewhat earlier in the east than in the west. 
As regards its departure, although it does not remain later than 
some of both the other common species, it does certainly, I 
should say, asa body linger longer; and time after time | 
have noticed that, when the Common Snipes had been reduced 
to one-tenth of their former number, or even less, the Jacks 
were quite as numerous as they had been at any previous 
period; and, while in Upper India the proportion of Jacks killed 
to Common Snipe hardly amounts to ten per cent. between the 
15th of November and the 15th of March, towards the end of 
that, although throughout the latter part of October I had been shooting Snipe in 
likely places, and the Common Snipe was plentiful, the first Jack was seen on the 3rd 
of November, and that several other men who had been shooting in Etawah, Main- 
puri, and Cawnpore, told me about this time that they had seen no Jacks that season. 
Later the same year in February, in the same places, they were abundant. The 
following are some of the notices that I have met with, or that have been sent me 
as to the times of its arrival, departure, &c. :— 
‘* Tt makes its appearance later than the Common Snipe and departs earlier.” — 7. 
C. Ferdon. 
‘** Tt appears in India and departs about the same time as the Common Snipe ; but 
I have never seen it lingering so late as many stray ones of the latter species are 
known to do.” —S. R. Tickell. 
‘When at Jhansi, I noticed that, for three successive years, we found and shot 
the little Judcock before a full Snipe had been seen, and I have been confirmed in 
this opinion by several experienced sportsmen.” —F. H. Baldwin. 
‘* The Jack Snipe arrives in the valley of Nepal in the beginning of September, 
and does not leave until about the middle of April. It is most common in the 
valley during October, November, and March, and is found inthe Nawakot district 
in November. It was generally found in fields of growing corn or other crops.” — 
F. Scully. 
** They come in (at Jessore) during the latter half of August.”—H. 3. Rainey. 
‘* Judging by those we see of it, and compared with the Common Snipe, the Jack 
might be said to be very rare in the Lucknow division ; but owing to its skulking 
habits, it appears to be much rarer than it really is. It would seem to arrive later 
and to depart earlier than the Common Snipe.” —G. Red. 
“ The first Jack was shot here at Jacobabad this year on the 4th of October; 
the first full Snipe on the 28th of August.”—P. 3 Maitland. 
** Gallinago gallinula, Lin., arrive in November on the Eastern Narra, and leave by 
April.” --S. Doig. 
‘* We shot the first Jack at Deesa, in 1876, on the 23rd of September. This species 
arrives about a month later than the other two.”—Z. A. Butler, 
‘Jack Snipe are found, but rather sparingly, in Ratnagiri. Only the larger Snipe 
grounds attract them, and they are not like the Common and the Pin-tailed Snipe, 
found in every little patch of inundated rice land. ‘They arrive very early, and have 
been shot at Dapuli in September.” —G. Vidal. 
‘*T have shot them all over Southern India, south of the 12th degree North Lati- 
tude. They come in late in the year, about the end of November, and leave again 
before the end of February. They don’t appear to be common, except in some parts 
of Malabar, near Nellamboor and Wondoor, and in some parts of Palghat. 
** They appear to prefer the higher standing paddy and tall grass of swamps ; they 
almost rise at the foot, and are not so easy to hit as the others. Very few are snared 
by the native fowlers, hardly any being brought to the markets for sale.”—d, 
Theobald, 
** ‘The Jack Snipe is fairly (some say very) common in Southern Travancore, from 
September to April, or the early part of May.”—-Frank W. Bourdillon. 
