COMMON SNIPE. 329 
witnesses, both marshmen and sportsmen, resident near 
the broads. It would seem, however, that this habit 
is confined entirely to the breeding season, all the 
instances I have heard of in this county having occurred 
in the summer months; and where a tree or a marsh- 
mil] stands conveniently near the nest there is no doubt 
that one or other of the parent birds will occasionally 
settle upon it. Most frequently, I imagine, the male 
bird whilst the hen is sitting.* Both Mr. Blofeld and 
his marshman, William Hewitt, assure me that they 
have witnessed this fact in several instances at Hoveton ; 
and on one occasion, when sailing in the Norwich river, 
Mr. Robert Pratt, of Surlingham, observed a snipe 
perched on a mill sail near the shore, and a young lad 
with him at the time having shot the bird, sitting, 
brought it on board the boat. A relative of my own, 
the Rey. J. C. Matchett, well accustomed to the Broad 
district as an angler, as well as snipe shooter in former 
days, assures me that many years ago, at Ranworth, 
in the spring of the year, he saw a snipe perch on a 
“notice” board which stood on a marsh near the 
side of the river. Mr. F. Mills also, an observing 
naturalist as well as sportsman, informs me that in 
two successive years, when residing near Horning 
Ferry, he saw a snipe perch on the branch of a tree, 
and on the last occasion pdinted it out to a friend who 
had been sceptical on the point up to that time. The 
gamekeeper, who has charge of the Gullery at Scoulton, 
has frequently seen a snipe perch on the summit of a 
* It is possible, also, although I have no data to prove this, 
that it occurs only when the upper branches of the tree have 
been struck by lightning, or from other causes are bare of leaves ; 
thus presenting, as in the case of the mill sails, a clear surface. 
We all know that swallows mostly, though not invariably, select 
the dead wood, near the summit of a tree, as a resting place for 
themselves and young. 
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