THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
side it, whereas with the ordinary snipe these markings are exactly 
reversed. The tail has but twelve feathers instead of fourteen as in the 
common snipe ; and when it is flushed it rises silently, without the 
peculiar cry of “ scape ” with which the full snipe heralds its flight. Its 
weight averages but two ounces, or half the weight of its larger relative. 
The great, or solitary snipe, is an annual visitor in early autumn, and 
as becomes its extra size, it flaunts two more feathers in its tail, that is, 
sixteen. It is curious that the number of tail-feathers should increase in 
regular gradation from the little jack snipe up to the great snipe ! 
A handsome specimen of the great snipe was shot by Mr Wilfrid 
Stanyforth on September 16, 1911, at Stangfoot, Arkengarthdale, York- 
shire, which is the first that has been recorded in that county for several 
years.* It has been well set up by Allen, of York, the peculiar markings 
on the wing coverts, the barred underparts, and the white outside tail- 
feathers being conspicuously displayed, which, once seen, will enable 
anyone to distinguish this species at a glance. 
R. F. MEYSEY-THOMPSON. 
* The communicated and recorded occurrences of the great snipe in Yorkshire number upwards of sixty, and are 
too numerous to mention in detail. Mr. T. H. Nelson, in his Birds of Yorkshire, 1907, states (vol. ii, p. 602) that 
eighteen have been shot in the North Riding, seventeen in the East Riding, and in the West Riding twenty-nine. — Ed. 
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