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the larder in pre-gunning days than was the snipe. The woodcock could then be caught easily, the snipe with difficulty. Hence the 'cock was a more or less common dish at the tables of the rich at that far-back time, while the snipe was an uncommon one, and the 'cock became the chief of familiar table birds. That position he has retained ever since; and the diner of to-day holding the woodcock to be 'the very best bird that ever did fly,' we must grant the 'cock precedence before the snipe in gastronomic respect.

And from the point of view of the sportsmanthe most important point of view of all. Here, again controversy would be endless. The woodcock is a bird comparatively seldom met with, very rarely met with throughout the greater part of the British Islands ; he is, as we have seen, considered greatly superior to every other bird from the point of view of the epicurean, a fact which gives him a special value all his own in the sportsman's eyes; he is one of the most sporting birds to kill, many say the most sporting; the gunner who is fortunate enough to bring a 'cock to bag while covert-shooting carries the honours of the day; and the average sportsman thinks far more of killing a woodcock than of killing any other bird whatsoever. Thus, at first glance, it seems as though it should be said that the 'cock, from the

sportsman's point of view, is of more importance than the snipe, even perhaps that he is of more importance than any other game bird. Is it right, however, that the 'cock should be given precedence here? To every one woodcock killed in the British Islands, how many snipe are killed? Whatever the proportion may be, we can only say in the ordinary way of speaking that the 'cock is an uncommon bird and the snipe is a common one. Woodcock shooting proper is only within reach of the favoured few, favoured by wealth or locality; snipe shooting is engaged in by the many, for wherever there is low, wet land, there may the snipe be found. Where there will be twenty readers of these pages who have never the opportunity of doing more than killing a very occasional 'cock by the covert side, there will be but one who is ever able to take part in what may be strictly called woodcock shooting; while there will be but one who is able to take part in what may strictly be called woodcock shooting, there will be fifty who engage regularly in snipe shooting. Therefore, from the point of view of sportsmen at large, it is to be taken that the snipe is a more important bird than the 'cock. Both birds are equal from the ornithologist's point of view; and as the point of view of the epicurean is altogether less worthy than that of the sportsman, we will give

precedence to the smaller long-bill and discuss him forthwith.

There are two snipe abundant throughout the British Islands, viz. the full snipe, the common snipe, the whole snipe or the heather-bleater (Scolopax gallinago), and the Jack snipe, the half snipe, or the Judcock (Scolopax gallinula); there is one snipe which is comparatively a rare bird, viz. the great snipe, the double snipe, or the solitary snipe (Scolopax major); and there are two snipe, viz. the brown snipe, the red-breasted snipe, or the grey snipe (Scolopax grisea), and Sabine's snipe or the black snipe (Scolopax Sabini), which are so rare as visitors to us that only occasional specimens have been obtained.

SABINE'S SNIPE

It is now generally held by ornithologists that Sabine's snipe is not a distinct species, but merely a dark variety of the full snipe. The arguments in favour of this belief are, that the breeding ground of such a bird is unknown and that among the Scolopacidæ variations in the tints of plumage are very far from rare. Possibly when northern latitudes are more thoroughly explored we may prove Sabine's snipe to be a true species. It took our antipodean relatives a century to discover the breeding place, Japan, of the

Australian snipe. If it were really true-and on the prime authority of Yarrell the assertion is often made and believed that Sabine's snipe has only twelve tail feathers, its individuality as a species would be obvious, for it is certainly not a melanism of the jack, and both the full snipe and the great snipe have tail feathers in excess of this number. To set this matter finally at rest I consulted Doctor Bowdler Sharpe, who was kind enough to have an examination made for me of the specimens classified as Sabine's snipe at the South Kensington Museum. The result of this examination was that all the birds were found to possess fourteen tail feathers, the same number as that owned by the full snipe.

THE BROWN SNIPE

Perhaps a dozen specimens, perhaps a few more, of the brown snipe have been encountered in England: I know no authentic case of its occurrence in Scotland or Ireland. It abounds on parts of the American coast during the winter, returning to its breeding haunts in the extreme north with the advent of spring. The bird feeds almost entirely by the sea shore. Brown snipe keep in large wisps, and fly in close formation like the stint. Upwards of a hundred have been killed at a shot by American coast gunners.

The length of the brown snipe is about 10 in.; its weight about 3 oz. Mr. Beverley R. Morris describes its summer and winter plumage thus :

In the summer, the plumage above is marked with black, cut into narrow waves of brownish yellow; the rump and tail coverts are white, the tip of each feather marked with a crescent-formed spot of black on the tip, and barred diagonally with the same colour; the tail is also white, slightly tinted with rufous, and with all the feathers barred with black. Beneath, the throat, neck, breast, and flanks are orange brown, each feather tipped and barred with black; these colours gradually disappear downwards, and the centre of the belly, with the vent, are pure white. In winter the plumage is of a greyish brown on the head and neck, deeper on the back and wings, and these, in some states, have the feathers edged with paler margins. There is a tint of rufous on the breast, but the lower part of the chin and belly are white. The tail and its coverts are similar in all states, a slightly deeper rufous tinge on the former during summer. The axillary feathers are white, barred with black; quills are deep hair brown; shafts of the first broad and white. It may be observed that, from the month of April until winter, various intermediate states of plumage are passed through, often very beautiful.

The brown snipe has twelve tail feathers.

THE GREAT SNIPE

The great snipe is not, I think, quite so rare a bird as is often supposed; for so close is its resemblance to the full snipe, and so accustomed are

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