COMMON SNIPE. 373 



astonishing. There the nests are found in various situations ; 

 often in the grassy pastures, but more frequently on the 

 unfrequented moors, from the level of the lakes to the height 

 of two thousand feet. A slight hollow, lined with bits of 

 heath and grass or sedge, and situated on a dry tuft, or 

 among stunted heath or moss, receives the eggs, which are 

 usually four in number, although I have often found only 

 three, pyriform, placed with the small ends together, gene- 

 rally an inch and seven-twelfths long, an inch and one-twelfth 

 in breadth, of a greyish-yellow colour, tinged with greenish- 

 blue, and marked with irregular spots and patches of dark 

 brown and brownish-grey, more numerous toward the larger 

 end. They vary considerably in form, size, and colour. 



The young, which are at first covered with extremely 

 soft, tufty down, of a brownish-red colour, spotted with 

 dusky broAvn and white on the head and upper parts, leave 

 the nest presently after emerging from the eggs, and accom- 

 pany their parents in search of food. Whether they are at 

 first fed by them, or from the beginning seek out their food 

 of themselves, has not been determined. They conceal 

 themselves by squatting when in apprehension of danger, 

 and are anxiously tended by their mother, who flies around 

 the intruder on their haunts, alights, and feigns lameness, in 

 the manner of the Dunlin, Golden Plover, and other birds of 

 this order. When they are fledged they disperse, and the 

 parents usually nestle a second time. 



When the nights become cold after the middle of autumn, 

 the Snipes betake themselves to the marshy parts of the 

 lower grounds, and later in the season they almost entirely 

 leave the moors, especially those that are elevated ; but in 

 all parts of Scotland individuals are met with on the moors 

 during the whole winter. Usually they remain in the more 

 unfrequented parts during the day, part of which they pass 

 in repose ; and in the evening resort to the low grounds, 

 where they may be seen arriving singly in favourite places, 

 and where they remain all night searching for food. In 

 such places in the Hebrides, as in marshy meadows and by 

 the sides of pools, I have started hundreds of them at night. 

 By moonlight I have seen them in surprising numbers on 



