224 NIDIFICATION. 



but if, on the contrary, the females take part in the 

 ' Lelv,' they should be left for shooting in autumn with 

 the pointer. It is possible, however, that the females 

 are present at the ' Lek ' in the early part of the spring, 

 and do not retire from it until they have laid tlie full 

 complement of eggs and commenced sitting ; and that, 

 subsequently, the ' Lek' is continued by. the males alone. 

 This I am inclined to believe is the case, because my own 

 captures were made at the end of May, when the birds 

 were very lean ; and if so, provided that these birds do 

 not breed twice within the year, they (the males) need 

 not be spared. At what period in the sj)ring the ' Lek ' 

 commences. I cannot state ; but even at the end of May 

 it was carried on with full vigour." 



The number of Solitary Snipe that congregate at the 

 ' Lek-stalle ' depends of course on their abundance or 

 scarcity in the vicinity ; but that they are occasionally 

 very numerous, may be inferred from the slaughter 

 committed. It is said that, however their numbers may 

 lie reduced by the net or the gun, the survivors will 

 continue to resort to the spot. 



The Solitary Snipe, as observed, breeds both in the 

 lowlands and in the hii^hlands of Scandinavia. About 

 the beginning of June the female forms her very simple 

 nest, consisting of a few blades of grass, either in the 

 depression of a tussock or between two tussocks. Her 

 eggs, commonly four in niimber — longer, but less thick, 

 than those of the Woodcock — are pear-shaped, and 

 pale olive-green in colour, with large black sjiots and 

 l)lotches, esj)ecially at the thicker end. Their usual 

 length is 1 inch 6 lines, and thickness 1 inch 2 lines ; but 

 they vai'y greatly in size. Often, indeed, one finds an 

 egg in the nest of this bird considerably smaller than the 

 remainder. "As out of a lesser egg weaker chicks are 

 produced, so in this fact we have an explanation of the 



