A single snipe was captured on Little Barrier Island in 1870. The history of this specimen is traced up to its designation as the holotype of Coenocorypha aucklandica barrierensis 85 years later. Other records of snipe in the Auckland area seem to refer to the one Little Barrier specimen or to other species of wader. Snipe apparently disappeared from Little Barrier Island in the 1870s, when cats became established, but apparently were rare before then. References by R.H. Shakespear to “snipe” on Little Barrier Island are given, but are regarded as probably referring to other species.