COMMON SNIPE. 
179 
In comparison with the Common Snipe, the bill 
and legs are short ; the tibiae bare for only a short 
distance above the tarsal joint. The upper parts 
exhibit the goneral distribution of colouring and 
marking seen in the Snipes, the distinctions in 
which, between species, it is almost impossible to 
point out in words, but the under parts, to the breast, 
are pale ochreous, below that nearly white in the 
former, the latter having the feathers barred with 
black, the markings covering the whole under sur- 
face ; the wings are short and rounded in all their 
proportions; the edges of the inner webs very slightly 
tinted with a pale rufous, and minutely and deli- 
cately mottled with greyish-black (as in Tringa ru- 
fescens), though not so conspicuously ; the axillary 
feathers with very broad and distinct black bars ; 
tail very much concealed by both upper and under 
coverts ; the centre feathers black, with rich rufous- 
orange tips, finished by a black and a white narrow 
bar ; the four exterior feathers, on each side, white 
on the inner webs, more or less barred with black 
on the outer, and those next the centre being tinted 
with reddish-orange. 
The Common Snipe, Scolopax gallinago, Linn. 
— Scolopax gallinago, Linn . — Becassine ordinaire , 
Temminclc. — Snipe, or Common Snipe of British 
authors — The Common Snipe is abundant over 
the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, and is 
familiarly known to every sportsman. Many birds 
