126 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



black, or leaden bill has the under mandible wider to\va»-ds the 

 tip ; the thick le^^s are lead-blue, the irides dark brown, as in 

 the adult bird. In the heather it looks like some brightly 

 coloured, hairy caterpillar of a large bombycid moth. Trusting 

 instinctively to its colouring for concealment, it crouches silent 

 and motionless, even if threatened by a boot or taken in the 

 hand. Though the young can run as soon as dry, the parents 

 continue to feed them ; it is said that at times they carry them 

 to the feeding-place, but certainly they sometimes conduct 

 them on foot, calling to them as they strut ahead with flirting 

 tail and slightly drooped wings. 



The adult has the head dark, with a median stripe and two 

 lateral stripes of buff; there is a dark streak from the bill to 

 the eye. The back is dark brown, with lighter streaks on the 

 mantle ; the wings are mottled and barred with black, buff, and 

 brown, and the flanks barred with brown and white. The bill 

 is horn, browner towards the tip, the legs greenish brown. 

 Sabine's Snipe is a melanistic variety, still considered by some 

 as worthy of specific rank. Length, 10-5 ins. Wing, 5 ins. 

 Tarsus, 1-25 ins. 



Great Snipe. GalUnago media (Latham), 



The Great Snipe (Plate 51) nests in northern Europe and 

 north-western Asia, and winters from the Mediterranean south- 

 ward to the Cape. In the British Isles it is a passage migrant 

 rather than winter visitor, for it has been most frequently 

 observed in August, September, and October ; in spring it is 

 infrequent. It has been found in all parts, even in St. Kilda 

 and Fair Island, but in Scotland and Ireland it is decidedly 

 rare. 



There is often confusion between the Double Snipe, as this 

 bird is called, and the Full or Common Snipe, for the markings 

 and colour are similar on the whole, but as the tail is usually 



