BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 67 



the rest in the shape and special strength of the web, the 

 short, curved shaft, and the muscles which control them. 

 Experimentally it has been shown that the 'bleat' may 

 be closely reproduced by taking these two feathers from 

 a Snipe killed at the proper season, and attaching them 

 to a cork, which is then whirled round on the end of a 

 string. 



It is of course in winter that Snipe are shot, and at 

 this season they associate in small parties called ' wisps ' 

 or ' whisps,' and it is very noticeable with what remark- 

 able iinanimity all their movements in flight are made. 

 The Snipe usually remains hidden till closely approached, 

 and then suddenly flies up with an extremely rapid zig- 

 zag flight, repeating the while a short note of alarm. In 

 India the Snipe is said to fly off' with a straight flight 

 when flushed, and therefore to be more easily shot. When 

 in good condition. Snipe average four or four and a half 

 ounces, but examples weighing five ounces, or even more, are 

 sometimes obtained. As the Snipe's food consists largely of 

 worms and other things which it probes for in the soft 

 ground with its long beak, long-continued frost tells heavily 

 on it, and the birds become veiy thin and weak. 



A melanistic or dark variety of the Snipe was formerly 

 separated as a distinct species, known as ' Sabine's Snipe.' 

 About sixty specimens of it are known, and they are 

 almost all from the British Isles, and notably from Ire- 

 land. It has been pointed out in this connection that 

 melanism is particularly apt to occur in districts which 

 have a very moist climate. 



The Snipe and the Woodcock have the upper and 

 lower halves of the bill sufficiently flexible to be opened 

 at the tip while otherwise shut. Worms, &c., can thus 

 be grasped underground. 



