226 COMMON SNIPE. 



the celebrated sculptor Chantrey, killed two Woodcocks at one shot, 

 and was so pleased with his success, that he carved them in marble. 

 Mr. Hudson Gurney suggested to him this simple inscription : 



Driven from the north where winter starved them, 

 Chantrey first shot, and then he carved them. 



The marble tablet still adorns the Library at Holkham. 



Genus— GALLINAGO. 



[Gallinago major — Great Snipe.] 

 A straggler to the British Islands. 



GALLINAGO C^LESTIS— Common Snipe. 



Hither the long and soft-billed Snipe resorts 



By suction nourish'd : here her house she forms ; 



Here warms her fourfold offspring into life. 



Grahame — Birds of Scotland. 



The abundance of the Common Snipe has given way very 

 much in Herefordshire, as elsewhere, to the reclamation by increased 

 drainage of the wet marshy lands they delight in. They still come 

 to us from the north, in numbers varying with the season, and are 

 widely distributed throughout the county. They can scarcely be said 

 to be plentiful anywhere in Herefordshire, but there are few sports- 

 men whose skill is not annually tried by the twisting, turning flight 

 of the Snipe, as it rises before them. It is always welcomed, though 

 never to be depended upon, since 



" The pallat-pleasing Snite.'" 



DRATTO'S—Polyolbion. 



is much esteemed on the table. In Scotland, and Ireland, where 



they abound, their restlessness often indicates wet weather ; thus 



Wilson calls it 



" The long-billed Snipe that knows the approaching rain." 



Some few pairs remain to breed in the more secluded parts of 



the county. Mr. James W. Lloyd, of Kington, says "my son found 



two nests, in this parish, on April i8th, 1883, within the distance 



of a hundred yards from each other, each containing four eggs." 



