88 Messrs. F. and P. Godmaii on the Birds observed at Bod'6 



and though we could always find several birds, we did not 

 succeed in finding any nests before June 24th, nearly a month 

 after the birds arrived. About this time we found several places 

 evidently scraped out by a bii'd as if for a nest, and as they 

 were in a part of the marsh in which we observed no other bird 

 except the Great Snipe which was likely to do this, although we 

 were there almost daily for six weeks, and as they were invariably 

 in exactly similar places to those in which we subsequently 

 discovered the nests of the Great Snipe, we can attribute them to 

 no other bird. Although we carefully looked at these scrapings 

 several times subsequently, we never found any eggs in them ; 

 but on one occasion we took a nest with four eggs about 6 yards 

 from one of these places. 



The first nest we found contained four eggs, and was placed 

 on the edge of a small hillock, quite open, though there were 

 dwarf birch-trees growing all round, aad one on the very hillock 

 on which the nest was situated. It consisted of nothing more 

 than a hole scraped in the moss, in which the eggs were de- 

 posited ; there were neither grass nor leaves in it. After a 

 minute examination of it, and cai*efully marking the place, we 

 went aw^ay to fetch our guns, the rain descending in such 

 torrents that we were not carrying them that day. On our 

 return in half an hour, the bird was again on the nest. We put 

 it up and shot it. It proved to be a female. The eggs were 

 very slightly incubated. The next day (June 25th) we found 

 another nest within 200 yards of the former, containing only 

 two eggs, and as we thought the bird would be sure to lay 

 more, we marked the place and left it. It was situated on a 

 small hillock, and much in the same sort of place as the former. 

 We found another nest on the 27th of the same month. The 

 bird fluttered off' and ran away, dragging its wings on the 

 ground, and making a sort of drumming noise. After taking 

 four eggs from this nest, we returned to look at that found on 

 the 25th, w^iich contained two eggs. We walked directly to the 

 spot, and what v.as our horror at seeing nothing in the place but 

 some apparently disturbed moss ! Our first impression was that 

 the eggs had been destroyed by the Magpies or Crows that were 

 constantly hunting for such food, or perhaps taken and eaten by 



