COMMON SNIPE. 12$ 



Large numbers of " foreign " Snipe arrive in October and 

 November, and some of our home-bred birds go south ; a hard 

 frost or heavy snow causes westward movement, filling the 

 Irish bogs with refugees. Return migration begins in March 

 and lasts until after our birds have begun to nest. Display 

 usually begins in March, but the strange "drumming," frequently 

 heard during display, is by no means confined to the breeding 

 season, nor, do I think, is it exclusively masculine. The dis- 

 playing bird rises with strong, rapid wing-beats in towering 

 circles, alternated with sharp descents, vol-planing steeply with 

 wings half open and tail widespread. As it shoots down, the 

 outer tail feathers stand out at an angle of about 45", and the rush 

 through the air causes these to vibrate with a booming note ; 

 this noise reminds me more than anything of the bleat of 

 a kid, and on northern moors the bird is known as the 

 " Heather-bleater." It is probable that the vibration of the stiff 

 primaries helps the sound, though the two tail feathers are 

 mainly responsible. Mr. F. J. Stubbs saw one bird repeatedly 

 descend back downward, and others have noticed the same 

 strange action. Often in the air and commonly on the ground 

 the Snipe has a vocal note, a deliberate chip-per, chip-per, 

 chip-per J this is often uttered from a post, rail, or other elevated 

 perch, when the rythmical movements of the head can be seen. 

 I saw one bird calling when perched on the top sail of a 

 motionless windmill. 



The nest (Plate 50), a grass-lined cup, is well concealed in 

 rushes, long grass, or, on the moors, cotton-grass and ling. The 

 pyriform eggs, usually four, placed with their small ends inward, 

 often have the dark smears and blotches more oblique than in 

 the one figured (Plate 54) ; they have been found early in March, 

 but clutches are usually complete about the middle of April. 

 The nestling (Plate 52) is a ball of reddish-brown down, barred 

 and streaked with darker brown and black, and plentifully 

 frosted with specks of silvery white ; the short, soft, greenish- 



