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.