254 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



horse some considerable distance away, and seemingly 

 over their heads. Looking in that direction they saw 

 the animal drinking at the water's edge in a neighbouring 

 pasture, but as they approached it the horse was suddenly 

 transformed into a snipe, which took wing at their ap- 

 proach, and vanished into the heavens with a mocking 

 neigh. 



In addition to this peculiar drumming, and to the 

 utterance of the " chipp-churr '' note of the breeding 

 season, the snipe at this time of the year is given to the 

 habit of perching, though at all other seasons it is never 

 known to settle anywhere but on the level earth. In 

 the spring I have repeatedly seen a snipe fly some distance, 

 then alight on a rail end, bobbing Hke a sandpiper. I 

 have also seen it alight on a wall top or on a boulder — 

 anywhere, indeed, that it could obtain a good view of 

 the surrounding country. I have never known a snipe 

 to alight in the branches of a leaf- covered tree, as a 

 blackbird would ; always he alights in some aloof and 

 conspicuous place, for, while other birds seek the trees 

 for shelter, the snipe perches not to avoid detection, 

 but in order to detect. At this season he does not mind 

 whether or not he is seen ; he merely wants to see, and 

 so, like the sandpiper and the redshank, he settles when 

 he perches in some open and commanding place. 



The female snipe sits her eggs closely, and is a very 

 solicitous mother. Her young are among the most 

 beautiful and attractive of earth-born things, and she 

 evidently knows that their chance of a safe survival 

 depends upon the protective colouring with which Nature 

 so liberally endows this race. Thus, immediately her 

 eggs hatch, she carries away the broken fragments, 

 leaving them at some considerable distance from the 

 nest, knowing, evidently, that the white chips would 

 serve to catch the eyes of her numerous foes. Many birds 



