218 AN ALPINE BIRD. 



swamps, avoiding- the wet. They also frequently resort 

 to the small rills used for irrigating the land. Their nest 

 is placed on a hummock or tuft of grass, near the willow 

 bushes on the borders of swamps." 



The testimony of Professor Rasch is equally conclusive 

 as to the Solitary Snipe nesting in alpine countries ; for, 

 in reply to my inquiries on this point, he says : " As regards 

 the southern portion of Norway, it breeds almost exclu- 

 sively in that tract of the fjalls called the ' willow region ' 

 {zo7ia salicum), though it is sometimes found nesting in the 

 highest range of the birch region. I have only observed 

 it on a single occasion hatching in the lower country. It 

 chooses principally for breeding-grounds the vicinity of 

 alpine ' shealings ;' in the luxuriant grass near to 

 which one often sees the tracks of these birds, the old hen 

 taking her chicks there a short time after they are out 

 of the shell. The region frequented by the Solitary 

 Snipe during the summer ranges from 2,500 to 3,500 

 feet above the level of the sea. During our Ripa Jagt, 

 in the latter part of August, we have often shot it in 

 the same region where the Fjall-Ripa is found, particu- 

 larly where the broad-leaved willow {Salix lanata) thi'ives. 



The Solitary Snipe, though often found in bogs and 

 marshes, would seem much less partial to wet ground 

 than either the Common or the Jack Snipe. Indeed, one 

 most generally meets with it in comparatively dry .places ; 

 such as tussocky moors and pastures, and not unfre- 

 quently in stubble fields, tliough it may be at no great 

 distance from ditches, rills, or the like. It is said to 

 give the preference to soils consisting of clay or mould, 

 and to avoid such as are sandv, on account of the erreat 

 dearth of worms. 



Localities overgrown with starr-grds, or sedge-grass, 

 are its favourite resorts ; and hence, in Germany, this bird 

 is called the Ilied-ScJuu'pfc, or sedge-grass snipe. This 



