826 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



the season advances they He much under the shelter of any large timber 

 near the swamp, and in patches of teartrec which skiii; the creeks and 

 wet ground. They never lie far in, and an old dog who knows liis 

 business will potter steadily along a yard or so in the tea^tree and tixrable 

 out the Snipe as fast as ever you can load and fire. In the very heat of 

 summer they get much into the honeysuckle scrub, but always somewhere 

 near their feeding grounds ; and here it is snap-shooting with a vengeance, 

 for when they rise they are only seen for an instant. The Australian 

 Snipe in the open is not nearly so difficult to kill as the Snipe at home. 

 They are a larger object, fly much steadier, and generally go away 

 straight ; yet, owing to the places they frequent, are often missed. They 

 are veiy fond of lying in the shade by day. If by chance any large 

 gum-trees stand in an open wet plain, they will generally get imder them ; 

 and I have often planted myself mider a favourite tree and stood still 

 while others were beating the grovmd roimd me, and killed as many as 

 all the other guns. They usually rise quietly ; but I have heard them 

 ' scape ' hke the Enghsh bird, especially when coming down to the 

 feeding grounds at night. I fancy one wisp follows another as they 

 aie travelling down, for in some days you will find Snipe in some places 

 where a week before there was not one. Of course, this is much owing 

 to the state of the feeding grounds and the season. Before the water 

 dries up they are dispereed over the whole face of the country ; but as 

 it goes down and many of the feeding gi-ounds become parched, they 

 pack more. There are then some places where you are sure to find 

 birds; and a man must know the country well to make sure of a bag 

 late in the season, for I never knew a bird that sticks to favourite 

 locahties more than the Australian Snipe. They shift their quai-ters 

 in the early part of the season very suddenly, and if a man hears of a 

 wisp of Snipe in any particular place, he must be off at once, or upon 

 reaching the gi-ound he will probably have the mortification of seeing 

 the feeding-marks of himdreds of Snipe, and find perhaps only a few- 

 outlying birds. The Australian Snipe is a ten-ible bird to i-un, and 

 you will rarely inse one just at the spot where j'ou saw it pitch. Tliey 

 often perch in the tea-tree scrub." 



637. — RosTKATui..\ (Rhynchvea) AisTKALis, Gould. (534) 



PAINTED SNIPE. 



figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 41. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 690. 



Previous Descriftiom of Ei;i;s. — Ramsay : I'roc. I, inn. Soc, N.,S. 

 Wales, 2nd ser., vol. i. (i.S,S6) ; North : .Vustn. Mus. Cat., with 

 fig., p. 312 (1889); Campbell: I'roc. Austn. Assoc, vol. v., 

 p. 442 (189J). 



Geographical Distr Unit inn. — Australia in general. 



