230 ‘BAR-TAILED GODWIT 
suddenly rose before me, which I at first supposed to be a 
snipe, but owing to its more rapid as well as peculiar flight, 
soon discovered my mistake. I fired, but it was out of shot 
almost before I could raise my gun to my shoulder. I 
again flushed it with no better success, but having been 
careful in marking it down, proceeded to stalk it, taking 
advantage of any cover or inequality in the ground, with 
my gun ready to be brought to the shoulder and finger on 
the trigger; so that when sprung the third time I was 
fortunate enough to shoot it, but on picking it up saw at 
once that it was nota snipe. Although an old hand at 
snipe-shooting (having in less than two seasons killed eight 
hundred snipes out of this and the neighbouring marshes), 
I almost despaired of being able to bag it, from its great 
shyness as well as rapidity of flight. I consulted an old 
work on Ornithology without finding it, but subsequently, 
on referring to Macgillivray’s Manual, met with a faithful 
description of it in the grey longbeak.—Henry W. Hadfield, 
High Cliff, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 2nd August 1856.’ 
I have not found the above occurrence referred to in any 
standard work, but Mr. T. A. Coward points out that it is 
recorded by Harting (Handbook of British Birds, 1901, 
p. 435). There have been in Great Britain about sixteen 
well authenticated occurrences of this American straggler, 
and two in Ireland. ] 
LIMOSA LAPPONICA (Linn.). BAR-TAILED 
GODWIT. 
This species appears on our coast regularly in small 
numbers. I find no records except from the southern 
district between Poolvash and Derby-haven, but it is 
