106 
BIRDS. PRESSIROSTRES. 
SCOLOPAX. 
iV. A. Vigors, Esq. Linn. Trans, xiv. 557- — Rare. 
Length 9/o inches. Bill 2/^ inches, brownish-black ; the upper mandible 
inclining to chesnut at the base. Tarsi inches. The plumage generally is 
brownish-black ; the margin of the feathers chesnut, darkest on the back. Tail- 
feathers black at the base, with ferruginous bands towards the tip. The ab- 
sence of white and the stripes of ferruginous yellow, so common to the other 
species, serves to distinguish this new addition to the European Fauna. Two 
specimens only have as yet occurred ; the one shot in Queen’s County, Ire- 
land, by the Reverend Charles Doyne, of Portarlington, 21st August 1822, 
and now in Mr Vigors’s valuable collection at Chelsea ; the other on the 
banks of the Medway, near Rochester, 26th October 1824, and preserved in 
the collection of Mr Dunning of Maidstone — Linn. Trans, ib. 
148. S. Gallinago. Common Snipe. — The tail of 14 feathers. 
A dark divided stripe on the crown. 
Gallinago minor. Will. Orn. 214. Sibb. Scot. 18 — Scol. Gal. Linn. Syst. 
i. 244. Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. 448. Temm. Orn. ii. 676 W, Yonittan, 
y Fyniar ; G, Croman loin — Common near marshes. 
Length 12, breadth 14 inches; weight 4 ounces- Bill upwards of 3 inches 
in length, black, yellow, changing into brown towards the base. Tail dusky, with 
a tinge of green. Irides dusky. Lores brownish-black. The crown similar, 
but divided in the middle, and separated on each side from the lores by stripes 
of yellowish-red. Neck yellowish-red, with dusky streaks. Back black, the 
feathers bordered with yellowish-red, most conspicuous on the scapulars. Chin 
and belly white. QuiUs 24, dusky ; under covers white, with black bars. In 
winter the red on the plumage is paler, approaching to white. — Nest of coarse 
grass on a dry spot in a marsh. Eggs 5, greenish, with brown and grey spots. 
— Occasionally shifts its station after the breeding season. 
149. S. Gallinula. Jack Snipe. — Tail feathers 12. A dark 
undivided stripe on the crown. 
Gallinago minor. Will. Orn. 214. — Scol. Gal. Linn. Syst i. 244. Penn* 
Brit. Zool. ii. 451. Temm. Orn. ii. 678 — Not uncommon in winter. 
Length 8^ inches ; weight 2 ounces. Bill an inch and a half long, like the 
preceding. Legs pale greenish-dusky. Irides dusky. Lores dusky ; between 
which and the crown stupe is a pale yellowish -brown one, divided over the 
eye. Cheeks yellowish- white ; the ear-covers dusky. Back black, with a 
strong purple gloss, edged with yellowish-red. Four stripes of yellowish-red 
on the back, formed in consequence of one web being of a uniform light co- 
lour. Belly white. Quills dusky. Tail dusky, freckled near the end, with 
reddish-brown and white- This species is not known to breed in this coun- 
try — Its visits are in winter. It differs from the preceding, in being a more 
solitary bird, and more difficult to rouse from its haunts. 
STRAGGLER, 
1. S. grisea. Brown Snipe.— -Tew? w. Orn. ii. 679. — Grey Snipe. — This spe- 
cies has the first and second toes united the length of the first joint, by a web. 
The tail-feathers are 12 in number, with black and white bands. The crown, 
neck, breast, and wing-covers, plain cinereous-brown. — This species, a native 
uf North America, has twice occurred in Europe ; once in Sweden, and once 
in England. Montagu, in his Orn. Diet., records the latter instance. It was 
shot in the beginning of October, on the coast of Devonshire. It was poor, 
■single, very tame, suffering the person who killed it to approach very near. 
He has added, in the Supplement^ a figure of the individual. 
