214 Allen's naturalist's library. 



the same remarkable performance in Siberia, where they were 

 very common in the valley of the Koorayika, and soon after 

 their arrival I used sometimes to watch them in the evening 

 through my binocular. With a little caution I found it very 

 easy to get near them, and frequently, as I sat partially con- 

 cealed between a couple of willow-bushes, I was able to turn 

 my glass on two or three pairs of these birds all within fifteen 

 or twenty yards of me. They had one very curious habit 

 which I noted : they used to stretch out their necks, throw back 

 the head almost upside down, and open and shut their beaks 

 rapidly, uttering a curious noise like that produced by running 

 the finger along the edge of a comb. This was sometimes 

 preceded by a short flight, or by spreading of the wings and 

 tail. I have never heard the Great Snipe utter any other call 

 or alarm-note. During the breeding-season it is not at all shy, 

 and allows of a near approach ; and when nesting, it almost 

 permits itself to be trodden upon before rising, which it does 

 with a whir of the wings like that of a Grouse, but not so loud. 

 It is a much easier bird to shoot than the Common Snipe, fly- 

 ing much slower and straighter. On the ground it is a very 

 comical-looking object ; plump, short-legged, it shuffles about, 

 half walking, half running, its bill always depressed, and, how- 

 ever intent it may be on feeding, it is ever on the watch for 

 danger, and always tries to keep behind a bunch of rushes or 

 a clump of sedge. It hides in the long coarse grass on the 

 banks of rivers and lakes during the day, and comes out in 

 the open in the evening, if there be any evening where it 

 happens to live, to feed on worms and various small insects. 

 The Great Snipe is a bird of the swamps, but prefers such as 

 have open places of mud or peat, or even sand." 



Nest. — According to Mr. Seebohm, the nest is sometimes 

 placed in long grass, but more often in the middle of a hillock 

 of sage or rushes. A small quantity of moss or dead grass is 

 added as a lining to the depression. 



Egjs. — Four in number, pear-shaped. The ground colour is 

 stone-grey or clay-brown, boldly marked with black, over which 

 is spread a reddish lustre; these black markings clustering 

 chiefly round the large end of the egg, where they form large 

 blotches. The underlying markings are faint purplish-grey, 



