GREAT OR DOUBLE SNIPE 
GALUNAGO MAJOR 
Scolopax major, Gmel. Syst. Nat., i, p. 661 (1788) ; Gould, Birds Europe, v, pi. 320 (1837) ; 
Seebohm, Hist. Brit. Birds, III, p. 237 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. Birds, pt. xxviii 
(1894). 
Gallinago major, Gould, Birds Great Brit., iv, pi. 78 (1863) ; Dresser, Birds Europe, vii, 
p. 631, pi. 541 (1876) ; Saunders, ed. Yarrell, Brit. Birds, iii, p. 336 (1883) ; Sharpe, Cat. 
Birds Brit. Mus., XXIV, p. 626 (1896) ; Saunders, III. Man. Brit. Birds, p. 571 (1899). 
Shaw, in Fur, Feather and Fin Series'' ; Snipe and Woodcock, p. 11 (1904). 
-'■a DULT male and female. — ^Very similar to the common snipe 
in colour and markings, but larger, and distinguished 
/ by the following characters: The white tips to the 
I wing -coverts are much more conspicuous, the breast 
i and flanks are more profusely barred with black; and 
.^JL p^the four outer tail-feathers on each side are mostly 
pure white, with only a few black bars or markings near the base. This 
last character is a very simple means of distinction (p. 272, fig. 2). 
Total length 11*0 inches ; bill from the feathers on the forehead to 
the tip about 2’5 inches; wing 5*5 inches; tail 2*0 inches ; tarsus 1*4 inch. 
General distribution. — ^The breeding-range of the great snipe extends from 
the lowlands and fells of Scandinavia across Northern Europe and Asia 
to the valley of the Yenesei in Siberia. In Western Europe it is met with 
in summer up to 71° north latitude, but eastwards, in Siberia, its northern 
range does not appear to extend beyond 66^°. In autumn it migrates 
southwards to the basin of the Mediterranean and Africa, many birds 
passing on to winter in Cape Colony. The birds breeding in Siberia pass 
through Turkestan and take a south-westerly course through Persia, 
the Caucasus, and North-East Africa, while many follow an easterly route 
to more southern latitudes. As a migrant to the British Isles, though an 
annual visitor, the great snipe is, comparatively speaking, a rare bird, but 
it is no doubt often overlooked on account of its general close resemblance 
to larger examples of the common species. Its large size, more heavily 
barred under parts, and tail composed of sixteen feathers, with the outer 
ones nearly pure white are, however, characters which render it easily 
distinguishable. 
Those which visit this country are, of course, stragglers from the main 
body moving southwards through Western Europe to the Mediterranean 
basin and Africa. The majority are said to be young birds of the year, 
273 
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