220 ITS FOOD. 



snails, and worms. It is not probable that it partakes of 

 any sustenance that is above ground ; for though vegetable 

 matter and the fibres of roots have at times been found in 

 its stomach, it is most likely that they have been swallowed 

 along with its own proper food. Its digestion is rapid j 

 and it is only in individuals that are shot early in the 

 morning that one can discover the least trace of undigested 

 food. Its "droppings" are usually of a dark-green colour, 

 and very thin. 



" It is not its eye," we are told, " that serves it to 

 obtain food, but the feeling excited in the point of its bill, 

 so rich in nerves. This it inserts in the ground to the 

 depth of about an inch ; and if there be anything living 

 there, it at once grasps it. The aperture made by its bill 

 looks as if formed by a slate pencil, and several of them 

 are often observable immediately near to each other." 



It would seem the general opinion in Scandinavia that 

 the Solitary Snipe feeds during the daytime ; but observant 

 and well-informed persons assert, on the contrary, that, 

 if left undisturbed, it then remains stationary, and pro- 

 bably sunk in slumber. At such times it for the most 

 part lies between two tussocks, against which it leans its 

 body in a horizontal position ; its neck somewhat drawn in, 

 or contracted, so as to appear thick ; its bill inclined 

 downwards, the tip of it occasionally touching the ground, 

 and its legs drawn up, but not bent, so that it still stands 

 on its feet. Its position at such times is thus different 

 from that of gallinaceous birds, which draw in the neck 

 altogether, and bend the tarsal joint so that they rest on 

 their bellies. Such is the postui'e of the bird when it and 



Snipe's stomach, which is stronger and larger, I have generally found 

 earth-worms, and often seeds, rice, and gravel. I conjecture that in 

 the temperate climates of Europe most of the aquatic larvse on which the 

 Solitary Snipe feeds are conveited into flios iu the late spiiiig and autumn 

 which probably limits tlio pciiod of their migration.' '.^ 



