244 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX.
Mr. Scruby informs me that a white specimen was shot at Shelley a few
years ago. He himself fired at it, but missed.
Jack Snipe : Limnocryptes gallinula. Locally, " Half Snipe."
A fairly-common winter visitor, most often seen during a frost.
King says (20) that in 1838 it
was " common " about Sudbury.
It frequently-occurs on Wanstead
Flats in winter (Baxter). I
have occasionally seen them,
and once shot one, in a marshy
meadow close to this house.
Round Harwich, Mr. Kerry
says it is common most winters.
He once shot one weighing 31/2
ounces, the usual weight being
about 2 ounces.
Dunlin : Tringa alpina. Locally, " Oxbird."
The commonest Sandpiper on our coasts during autumn, winter
and spring. Although it has never been known to nest in the county,
specimens some-
times remain on
the Coast until
the end of May,
and often return
by the middle of
July, while some
even stay with
us all the year
round.
Parsons says (13.
ii.134.)thatat South-
church, although
none remain to breed,
"about the middle
of July the old ones
arrive here, and the
first of the young
about the middle of
August. All that month and September [they] continue to come, and during
winter may be seen in immense flocks, traversing the surface of the water, or
sometimes, rising higher, they appear like a dark cloud, and rapidly turning and
presenting their breasts to the spectator, they all at once appear of a snowy white."
He shot seven (8) on New England on July 24th, 1824. His observations on this
bird (22) are very numerous. He seems not infrequently to have observed them
about until nearly the end of May : for instance, on May 23rd, 1836, he "saw a