COMMON SNIPE. 315 
Gould, in his “ Birds of Great Britain,” is assumed by 
this species in the breeding season. 
Often have I watched by the half hour together, 
till my eyes fairly tired’ of looking up into the 
bright sunny sky, the strange “play” of the snipes in 
spring and summer. Sometimes one only, at others 
several may be seen at a considerable height, now 
eurving upwards with a wide circling flight, now rapidly 
falling from their highest pitch with quivering wings 
and outspread tail, whilst simultaneously with the 
downward movement, and then only, a tremulous buz- 
zine sound falls upon the ear, which ceases the moment 
that the bird, recovering itself, ascends once more. 
The same performance is repeated again and again, 
sometimes for hours, and occasionally the snipe takes 
so lofty a flight as to be scarcely visible to the naked 
eye; but in the final descent the flight is extremely 
rapid and making a slight detour as it nears the ground, 
the bird drops abruptly into the sheltering herbage of 
the marsh or reed-bed. From the earliest dawn this 
sound, so peculiar to our marshy districts, and asso- 
ciated always with the wail of the lapwing and the 
redshank’s whistle, may be heard at intervals through- 
out the day, but towards evening many more seem to 
indulge in this resonant flight; and still more strange 
is that buzzing in the air, if heard after dark, with 
the birds of course invisible even in a starlit sky. 
I was first aware of this nocturnal habit when staying 
near Horning Ferry, in the middle of April, 1860 
(an unusual number having, as before stated, remained 
to breed in this county), but then, every evening, as 
late as nine or ten o’clock at night, the noise of the 
snipes was as incessant, and remarkable, as a frogs’ 
concert. It is noticeable, however, that this peculiar 
action is not altogether confined to the breeding 
season. Mr. Blofeld, of Hoveton, an unquestionable 
282 
