Part 46

The sexes are alike in colour and are reddish brown on the back, vermiculated with dark brown. The under parts are drab, barred with a darker shade. There is much individual variation in tint. Length 14·29 in.; wing 7·5 in.

The young resemble their parents, but are rather more barred on the back.

THE GREAT OR SOLITARY SNIPE Gallinago major (J. F. Gmelin)

A few individuals of this species, chiefly immature birds, visit our south and east counties yearly in autumn. Over the rest of the United Kingdom it is an exceedingly rare and irregular visitor.

It breeds in Scandinavia and across Northern Europe, extending southwards into Russia, Poland, and North Germany; over the rest of Europe east of the Rhone Valley it is common on migration and during the winter months.

It may be distinguished from the Common Snipe by its larger size, proportionately shorter legs and bill, and more boldly barred under parts. It has sixteen or more tail feathers. Length 10·5 in.; bill 2·3 in.; wing 5·5 in.

THE COMMON SNIPE Gallinago coelestis (Frenzel)

This bird is found wherever swamps, marshes, and damp meadows suitable to its habits are still left, and is a common resident throughout Great Britain, receiving large additions to its numbers from the Continent every autumn.

Very early in April it begins to nest, making a fairly deep "scrape" in a damp spot, generally in some rough grass or other cover, and lining it with a few bents and leaves. The eggs, four in number, as is the case with all wading birds, are greenish olive, spotted and blotched, often spirally, with various shades of brown, and there are also a few black markings near the larger end. The young when first hatched are reddish chestnut, mottled with black and white.

During the breeding season this species may often be seen "drumming" or "bleating." This is a sound much like the "bleating" of a goat, and considerable doubt as to how it was produced has long existed, although a Swedish naturalist stated many years ago that it was brought about by the rapidly vibrating tail feathers as the bird descended at a certain angle through the air. This has recently been clearly proved as correct by an English observer, Mr. P. Bahr, who points out that the sound is produced by the two outer tail feathers, which during the flight are held out widely separated from the rest of the tail. The sound can be produced artificially by placing these feathers on a cork and rapidly whirling them round with a piece of string. During the breeding season it utters also a loud vocal "chip, chip," when on the ground, while when suddenly flushed the alarm-note of "scape, scape" is well known. Its flight is very rapid and direct when once on the wing, but on first rising it flies in short zig-zags, offering a very difficult shot. Sometimes, however, it will "squat" on the approach of danger, and even on a bare patch of mud becomes almost invisible, so well do its colours harmonise.

Its method of "squatting" is rather peculiar, for it puts its beak down and its body and tail well in the air and generally pressed up against some growing vegetation. In this position the two light dorsal stripes appear like blades of grass, and all trace of the contour and shape of the bird is lost.

The sexes are alike in plumage. The general colour above is dark brown, with a light buff stripe across the crown and two stripes of a similar colour down the back, which is also mottled with buffish. Cheeks and chin are white, flecked with dark brown; chest and flanks ash brown; rest of under parts white. The young resemble their parents. Length 10·75 in.; bill 2·5 in.; wing 5 in.

There is a dark variety of this bird, known as Sabine's Snipe, which is occasionally met with, especially in Ireland. It has the whole of the under parts ash brown, barred with black, and the light stripes on the back are absent. Intermediates between the normal and the true Sabines are not uncommon.

THE JACK SNIPE Gallinago gallinula, Linnæus

Breeding in the north-western corner of Europe, as far east as Archangel, the Jack Snipe is only a winter visitor to this country, arriving towards the end of October and often not leaving our shores till well on in summer, but there is no authenticated case of its ever having bred with us. In habits it closely resembles the Common Snipe, but lies much closer when being "walked up," and then rising at one's feet goes off at a great pace. It is a more solitary bird than the Common Snipe, and a single individual may often be found for a whole winter in the same spot.

During the breeding season it "drums" in the same manner as the Common Snipe, the noise having been compared to the cantering of a horse on a hard road. The eggs are similar in colour and only very slightly smaller than those of the Common Snipe.

It may be recognised by its short bill and smaller size, and from its having only twelve instead of fourteen tail feathers. Length 7·5 in.; bill 1·5 in.; wing 4·25 in.

THE BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER Limicola platyrhyncha (Temminck)

This species, although it may sometimes have been overlooked, is a very scarce wanderer to our shores. Nesting on the tundras of North Europe, it migrates eastward in winter to the shores of the Levant.

Its general appearance in winter is much like the Dunlin, but its somewhat flattened bill and the small amount of white on the secondaries and upper tail coverts form distinctive characteristics. Length 6·5 in.; bill 1·2 in.; wing 4·25 in.

THE AMERICAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER Tringa maculata, Vieillot

The American Pectoral Sandpiper has occurred more frequently in Great Britain than any other of the American Sandpipers, some thirty or forty examples having been shot, and with two exceptions they have all occurred during the winter months.

Its breeding range is in Arctic America, whence it migrates to the tropics of America for the winter, and presumably those examples that visit us have come via Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroes.

The upper parts are brown, with lighter margins to the feathers; chin and throat whitish; breast buff, streaked with brown. Length 8 in.; bill 1·1 in.; wing 5·3 in.

THE SIBERIAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER Tringa acuminata (Horsfield)

The Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper is very closely allied to the above. It breeds in Eastern Siberia and is found in winter down the Asiatic coast. Two examples have occurred in England.

It differs from the American form in its smaller size and more rufous coloration, while the markings on the breast are arrow-shaped. Length 7·4 in.; wing 5·25 in.

BONAPARTE'S SANDPIPER Tringa fuscicollis, Vieillot