282 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Family CHARADRIID^. Genus Scolopax. 



Sub-family SCOLOPACINAl. 



COMMON SNIPE. 



Scolopax gallinago, Linnaus. 



Single Brooded. Laying season, latter half of April to middle 



of May. 



British breeding area : The Common Snipe is 

 very generally distributed over the British Islands, 

 breeding in all suitable localities, but more abundantly 

 in Scotland and Ireland than in England. 



Breeding habits : The Common Snipe is a resident 

 in the British Islands, but subject to much local move- 

 ment during the non-breeding season, and largely 

 increased in numbers in autumn and winter by birds 

 from other lands. The favourite breeding-grounds of 

 this species are marshes, wet moorlands, and boggy 

 ground in open country. It is not a gregarious bird, 

 each pair keeping to one particular haunt, although many 

 nests may be found within small areas of suitable 

 ground. Space will not allow of any detailed descrip- 

 tion of the drumming or bleating of the male bird 

 during the pairing season ; it is a sound made whilst 

 the bird is soaring above its breeding-haunts, indulging 

 in those aerial flights peculiar to this group. The 

 Common Snipe pairs annually. The nest is generally 

 made in the centre, or by the sheltering side of a tuft of 

 rushes or coarse grass in the swamps, and is a slight 

 hollow lined with dry grass and bits of dead aquatic 

 herbage. The bird sits closely, usually remaining on 

 the nest until nearly trodden upon, and makes little 

 or no demonstration when flushed. 



