jack snipe, ˈjack-ˌsnipe
[See Jack n.1 29, 34 b.]
A small species of snipe, Scolopax (Gallinago) gallinula; also called half-snipe. Also applied to the common American or Wilson's snipe, Gallinago Wilsoni, the Dunlin, Tringa alpina (Shetland), and the pectoral sandpiper of N. America, Tringa maculata.
| 1663 Killigrew Parson's Wed. iii. ii. in Com. & Trag. (1664) 109 Provide me then the Chines fry'd, and the Salmon Calvered..and an Assembly of Woodcocks, and Jack-snipes. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 359 The Jacksnipe... Its weight is less than two ounces, inferior by half to that of the snipe. 1883 Century Mag. Oct. 921/1 The Wilson's snipe..very closely resembles the jack snipe of Europe. 1889 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking 52 Like the particular tussock always tenanted by a jack snipe. |