THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Eggs . — ^The eggs are very large for the size of the bird, and resemble 
those of the common snipe so closely that it is difficult to give any 
character by which they may with certainty be distinguished. They are 
however, slightly smaller, and average about 1*55 in. in length by 1*09 in. 
in breadth. 
General habits . — The jack snipe is even more solitary in its habits 
than its larger ally, and never gathers in “ wisps ” like that bird, for 
though a number may be found occupying some specially attractive spot, 
each seems to lead an entirely independent existence. It is seldom wild 
and unapproachable ; on the contrary, it usually lies so closely that, without 
a good dog, many are walked over. So loth is the jack snipe to rise, that 
when a dog is pointing, it may sometimes be caught in a landing net, 
or even with the hand, and a marked down bird is so averse to rise a 
second time that it will almost allow itself to be walked on. As already 
remarked, when flushed during the day time its flight is usually short 
and much feebler than that of the common snipe, and its curious habit 
of dropping suddenly to the ground as if shot often raises false hopes 
in the breast of the unsophisticated sportsman. It seems to have little 
instinctive fear of man; and though so sluggish in its movements during 
the day, is active enough at night. Its leisurely flight is executed in silence, 
and it seldom, if ever, utters any sound as it rises noiselessly and flits 
away. In Upper India we are told that the jack snipe sometimes out- 
numbers the other snipes, but, as in the west, it is seldom that any 
considerable number of these birds can be bagged in the course of a day’s 
shooting, and Oates says that in Upper Burma, where it is fairly common, 
half a dozen may occasionally be killed in a day. 
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT. 
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