572 GREAT SNIPE. 



and uncommon in Spain ; but in the Rhone valley and further east it 

 seems to be equally frequent in spring and autumn, while distinctly 

 more numerous on the vernal migration in Italy, Malta, the Ionian 

 Islands and Albania. It occurs in Africa from Morocco to Egypt, 

 and passes southward to Natal, where it arrives in September and 

 October ; returning northward in April, in which month it has also 

 been obtained in Damara-land on the west side. In Asia it has 

 been found, up to lat. 71° N., across Siberia as far east as the Yenesei 

 (where it exceeds the Common Snipe in numbers), and southward 

 to the Tian-shan range, Turkestan, Persia &c., but it has not yet 

 been recorded from India or China. 



The nest is a hollow, often among willow-bushes, or in some 

 hillock above the level of a morass or forest-swamp ; the 4 eggs 

 are greyish-buff with pale purplish underlying blotches and bold 

 characteristic purplish-brown surface-markings : measurements i '8 by 

 1*25 in. Incubation begins at the end of May or early in June, 

 and is said to last eighteen days, but it is probably longer, for the 

 experiences of Mr. W. Evans show that nearly all the members of 

 this group require three weeks. The young, which run as soon as 

 hatched, are ready to fly by the middle of August. The food con- 

 sists of the larvK of insects (especially of flies of the genus Ti'pula), 

 small slugs and worms, while, according to Prof. Collett, a few small 

 stones are swallowed. In autumn, when the bird is often a perfect 

 ball of fat, it weighs from 7 to 10 ozs. In this country many 

 examples have been shot from grass-fields and clover, heather, potato- 

 patches in a sandy soil, barley-layers, turnips, and drier situations 

 than those frequented by the Common Snipe ; while the late Lord 

 Lilford remarked its predilection for currant-plantations in Corfu. 

 Though often found in couples the Great Snipe is seldom, if ever, 

 in ' wisps ' ; its flight is steady and heavy, and the tail is expanded 

 like a fan. A low, grating sound is produced by the bill in spring. 



The adult may be distinguished from the Common Snipe by its 

 larger size, proportionately shorter legs and bill, more boldly barred 

 under parts, and especially by the much greater amount of white in 

 the tail-feathers, which are normally 16 (exceptionally 18 during the 

 moult) and not 14 in number. Length io"5 in., wing 5*5 in. The 

 sexes are alike in plumage. In the young bird the tail-feathers are 

 barred across both webs, but the ground-colour of the four outer 

 pairs is nearly pure white and not mottled as it is in the Common 

 Snipe ; while the markings on the breast and flanks are more arrow- 

 shaped than those of the adult, and the general tint is more rufous. 



