COMMON SANDPIPER. 



TOTANUS HYPOLEUCUS. 



Family Charadriid.e. Genus Totanus. 



Summer Snipe — Sand Lark — Willy Wicket. 



A summer visitor to the British Islands from April 

 to October, but not a very numerous species. It is 

 most common in the moorland districts of the North, 

 where it breeds, but a few birds nest in Cornwall and 

 Devonshire. 



The Summer Snipe frequents the banks of rivers 

 and the margins of lakes and streams. It is parti- 

 cularly partial to tidal rivers, where some yards of 

 muddy banks are left as the water runs out ; over 

 this it may be seen lightly and quickly running, flirt- 

 ing its tail like a Wagtail, and stopping every now and 

 then to catch a passing insect or pick up some dainty 

 morsel left by the receding tide. Its food is almost 

 entirely composed of worms and insects, and their 



