Note 5 — FOURTH DAY. HALIEUS—POIETES—ORNITHER—PHYSICUS. FISHING FOR SALMON AND SEA TROUT.

From the food, and the remains of food, found in the stomach of the double snipe, I think I have ascertained, that it requires a kind of worm, which is not found in winter even in the temperate climes of Europe; and that it feeds differently from the snipe. There are certainly none found after the end of October in either Illyria or Italy; and I believe the same may be said of the end of May, as to their summer migration, or their breeding migration. I have opened the stomachs of at least a dozen of these birds, and their contents were always of the same kind, long slender white hexapode larvæ, or their skins, of different sizes, from that of the maggot of the horse-fly to one thrice as long. I believe all these insects were the larvæ of tibulæ of different species. In the stomach of the common snipe, which is stronger and larger, I have generally found earth-worms, and often seeds, and rice, and gravel. I conjecture, that, in the temperate climates of Europe, most of the aquatic larvæ on which the solitary snipe feeds are converted into flies in the late spring and autumn, which probably limits the period of their migration. In 1827 the solitary snipe passed through Italy and Illyria between the 15th of March and the 6th of May. I heard of the first at Ravenna the 17th of March, and I shot two near Laybach on the 5th of May; but though I was continually searching for them for a fortnight after, I found no more. This year they returned from the north early; and I saw some in the marshes of Illyria on the 19th of August. In 1828 they were later in their vernal passage, and likewise in their return. I found them in Illyria through May, as late as the 17th, on which day I shot three, and they did not re-appear till the beginning of September. I found one on the 3d, and three on the 4th, and twenty were shot on the 7th.

As this bird is rarely seen in England, I shall mention its peculiarities. It is more than one-third larger than the common snipe, and has a breast spotted with gray feathers. Its beak is shorter than that of the snipe; the old ones have feathers almost pure white in their tails, and as they spread them when rising, they are easily distinguished by this character from the snipe; but in the young birds that I have seen in August, this character was wanting. They are usually very fat, particularly the young birds; their weight varies from six to nine ounces; but even the fattest ones are rarely above seven ounces and a half; and though I have killed more than a hundred, I can speak of half-a-dozen only that weighed above eight ounces and a half. In spring they are usually found in pairs, the female being rather larger, and having a paler breast: in autumn they are solitary. They prefer wet meadows to bogs, or large, deep marshes. They usually lie closer than snipes, and seldom fly far. Their flight is straight, like that of a jack snipe, and they are easily shot.

Attention to the migrations of birds might, I have no doubt, lead to important indications respecting the character and changes of the weather and the seasons. The late migration of the solitary snipe this year (1828) seems to have been an indication of a wet and backward summer in the north of Europe. But to form opinions upon facts of this kind requires much knowledge and caution. The perfection of the larvæ of the tibulæ on which this snipe feeds depends upon a number of circumstances: the temperature of the last year; the period when the eggs were laid; the heat of the water when they were deposited, and the quantity of rain since. The migration of the solitary snipe is only one link in a great chain of causes and effects, all connected, and extending from Africa to Siberia.