100 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



is the more remarkable as the great snipe is at other seasons a par- 

 ticularly silent bird, and indeed is rarely heard to utter a sound of 

 any kind, usually rising in silence. 



Nesting. — The sites vary according to locality. In Jutland the^ 

 were usually on grassy flats, but in Scandinavia generally on broken 

 ground with birch scrub here and there. Here the female scratches 

 a hollow among the moss and deposits her four handsome eggs. 

 F. and P. Godman (1861), who found several nests in the Bodo 

 district, Norway, discovered one which had an incomplete set of 

 two eggs. On returning two days later to the spot nothing was 

 visible but some disarranged bits of moss. Alarmed by their ap- 

 proach the bird flew oif, leaving a hole in the moss through which the 

 eggs were visible. On a third visit the bird was found incubating the 

 two eggs, which were on the point of hatching, and was covered with 

 fragments of moss which she had evidently torn up and thrown over 

 herself. None of the other nests found were concealed in any way. 



Eggs. — These are normally four in number, though occasionally 

 three may be met with. They are pyriform in shape with a pale 

 stone colored ground and boldly spotted and blotched with dark 

 umber,, shading into black and numerous ashy gray shell markings. 

 The markings are usually denser and more concentrated at the big 

 end, often with a tendency to a zone. The measurements of 100 eggs 

 from northern Europe (09 by the writer, 19 by Goebel, and 12 by 

 Rey) average 45.3 by 31.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 48.8 by 31.9, 46.2 by 33.3, 41.2 by 31.7, and 

 46.5 by 29.5 millimeters. Rey (1905) gives the average weight as 

 1.107 g. and Goebel as 1.035 g. 



Young. — As to the share of the sexes in incubation our informa- 

 tion is scanty; but, such as it is, goes to prove that it is conducted 

 by the female alone. Naumann (1887) gives the period as 17 to 18 

 days and states that as soon as the young are dried they leave the 

 nest and take to the long grass which, effectually conceals them. 



Plumages. — The reader is referred to A Practical Handbook of 

 British Birds, edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), where a complete 

 account of the plumages and molts of this species is given. 



Food. — Naumann (1887) records small worms, insect larvae, small 

 snails, coleoptera, water insects, and larvae of Phryganeidae. Yar- 

 rell (1871) includes larvae of insects, especially Tipulidae, and small 

 slugs as well as worms. These last seem to form the staple diet. 



Behavior. — The family parties soon break up\ and from late 

 autumn to its arrival on the breeding grounds it is more likely to 

 be met with singly than in company. Its flight is not so rapid as 

 that of the common snipe, but slower and more direct, while instead 

 of uttering the well known scajje, it either rises in silence or merely 

 utters a guttural croaking note. 



