258 THE COMMON SNIPE 
sensitive, and enables the bird to discover by the touch the worms 
which, being buried in mud, are concealed from its sight. Snipes 
when disturbed always fly against the wind, so when suddenly 
scared from their feeding-ground, and compelled to rise without 
any previous intention on their part, they seem at first uncertain 
which course to take, but twist and turn without making much 
progress in any direction ; but in a few seconds, having decided on 
their movements, they dart away with great rapidity, uttering at 
the same time a sharp cry of two notes, which is difficult to describe, 
but once heard can scarcely be mistaken. When a bird on such 
an occasion is fired at, it often happens that a number of others, 
who have been similarly occupied, rise at the report, and after 
having performed a few mazy evolutions, dart off in the way 
described. At other times they lie so close that beween the sportsman 
and the bird which he has just killed there may be others concealed, 
either unconscious of danger, or trusting for security to their powers 
of lying hid. This tendency to lie close, or the reverse, depends 
much on the weather, though why it should be so seems not to have 
been decided. But the movements of Snipes generally are governed 
by laws of which we know little or nothing. At one season they 
will be numerous in a certain marsh; the next year perhaps not 
one will visit the spot ; to-day, they will swarm in a given locality ; 
a night’s frost will drive them all away, and a change of wind a few 
days after will bring them all back again. If very severe weather 
sets in they entirely withdraw, but of this the reason is obvious ; 
the frozen state of the marsh puts a stop to their feeding. They 
then retire to milder districts, to springs which are never frozen, 
to warm nooks near the sea, or to salt marshes. Perhaps the 
majority perform a second migration southwards; for, as a rule, 
they are most numerous at the two periods of autumn and spring— 
that is, while on their way to and from some distant winter- 
quarters. After March they become far less frequent, yet there 
are few extensive marshes, especially in Scotland and the north of 
England, where some do not remain to breed. At this season a 
striking change in their habits makes itself perceptible. A nest is 
built of withered grass, sometimes under the shelter of a tuft of 
heath or reeds, and here the female sits closely on four eggs. The 
male, meanwhile, is feeding in some neighbouring swamp, and if 
disturbed, instead of making off with his zig-zag winter’s flight, 
utters his well-remembered note and ascends at a rapid rate into 
the air, now ascending with a rapid vibration of wing, wheeling, 
falling like a parachute, mounting again, and once more descending 
with fluttering wings, uttering repeatedly a note different from his 
cry of alarm, intermixed with a drumming kind of noise, which 
has been compared to the bleat of a goat. This last sound is pro- 
duced by the action of the wings, assisted by the tail-feathers, in his 
descents. Oneof its French names is Chévre volant, flying goat, and 
