210 
The flight of the Snipe, on being flushed, is at 
first in a zigzag direction, until it has proceeded 
some distance, when it ascends and pursues its 
course at a higher elevation. 
SNIPE, GREAT. 
SoLiITaARY SNIPE. 
Scotopax Mason, Mont. 
This species, although it has been met with not 
very unfrequently in England, is apparently an 
irregular winter visitant. Being somewhat similar 
in appearance to our Common Snipe, it is probably 
mistaken for it. It is generally dispersed over the 
Continent, where it is met with singly or in pairs. 
It frequents the edges of grassy swamps and the 
borders of small rills. Its food seems to consist 
entirely of the larve of tipula or Daddy Long- 
legs. It breeds in Holland and the mountainous 
parts of Norway and Sweden, placing its nest on 
a tuft of grass, near the willow bushes on the 
borders of swamps. The eggs, four in number, 
are of a yellow olive brown, spotted with two 
shades of reddish brown. 
