THE SNIPE 163 



what at first seems the voice of distant thunder." It 

 is only during the spring and early summer months that 

 the Snipe drums, and one rarely hears him before April. 

 On still evenings of early summer it is good to wander 

 into the country of the Heather Blcater, and listen to the 

 birds as they wing their way backward and forward over- 

 head above a favourite nesting site of theirs. But one 

 rarely hears them during the hours of sunshine and heat : 

 one must needs go down to their bog toward sunset. On 

 one occasion I made my way down the river banks as the 

 sun was low in the west, to a certain stretch of marsh 

 land where Snipe are always to be found. From a field 

 of tussocky grass several Redshank sprang on my ap- 

 proach, crossing the river with excited whistlings, but as 

 yet, the season was too young to find their eggs. Many 

 Lapwings, too, were near the river, and a Heron, interrupted 

 in his fishing, made his way clumsily to a more secluded 

 spot. As I reached the big marsh the air was quiet, but 

 gradually, as the mists rolled in from the coast and the 

 sun became dim and fiery red in colour, there rose from 

 the bog, not one, but several Snipe. At top speed they 

 dashed backwards and forwards with rapid wing-beats. 

 Every now and again a bird would descend slantingly 

 earthwards, turning rather over on his side and producing 

 the characteristic bleating sound. After a couple of 

 seconds or so the bird checked his dipping, and at once 

 the sound ceased. Anything more rapid than the wing- 

 beats of a Snipe during this characteristic flight cannot 

 be imagined, and after a time the birds, one after the 

 other, dipped down into the rushes at express speed. 

 One particular individual I noted possessing a " bleat " 

 unlike his fellows. The key was abnormall>^ low, and the 

 bird, too, appeared to be larger than average size. Many 

 Curlews crossed over the country of the Snipe as I lay 

 there, their trilling whistles echoing across the glen, and 



