during the Spring and Surnmer of 1857. 89 



one of the many boys who wandered about the marsh tending 

 cattle; but on our beginning to express our fears, the bird, 

 doubtless frightened by our voices, flew up, leaving a hole in the 

 moss through which we could see there were still only two eggs 

 as before. Not doubting, however, that the bird would yet lay 

 more, we again left it, and returned in a couple of days. On 

 approaching the spot, we observed the nest was again covered 

 with moss. This time we remained for a minute before the bird 

 flew off, and on stooping down to examine it more closely, we 

 could distinctly see the bird's back through the moss. Not 

 liking this close inspection, it flew up, and we took the eggs, 

 which proved to be only within a day or two of hatching. The 

 bird had evidently, after it was comfortably seated on its nest, 

 torn up, with its long beak, the moss within its reach, and 

 drawn it over its back till it was completely covered in the way 

 described : there was not the least appearance of any hole through 

 which the bird could have crept into its nest. This circum- 

 stance of the nest being covered is the more curious, as out of 

 six we found, it was the only one thus carefully concealed. 

 There were probably as many as ten or fifteen pairs of these birds 

 in the marsh, which usually kept pretty close together, and were 

 generally to be found in one particular spot. Could this have 

 been a congregation of male birds, the mates of which were 

 breeding in the vicinity ? 



Mr. Wolley obtained a nest with four eggs from this locality 

 the same year, but unfortunately the eggs were much broken. 



We saw the bird occasionally on swamps in the mountains, 

 but it would have been a hopeless task to have searched for its 

 nest there, though we have little doubt it breeds in other 

 localities in the neighbourhood. 



The do\\Ti of a young bird of Scolopax major which we prepared 

 and brought home is not nearly so dark as that of S. gallinago. 



59. The Common Snipe. Scolopax gallinago. 



During a heavy snow-storm on May 5th, my attention was 

 attracted by a note sounding like " ekke" repeated several times, 

 and evidently proceeding from a bird on the ground. On shoot- 

 ing it, I found it to be a Common Snipe. I frequently heard 



